JBU students return to class
John Brown University students returned to classes with safety measures in place on Monday.
Classes, group activities such as chapel and meals, and dorm life will all look a bit different this year, according to Julie Gumm, director of communications for the university.
A multi-department task force has been meeting several times a week since spring to determine how to safely reopen campus, Gumm said. Every department on campus has had to submit a reopening plan and the facilities team worked all summer to prepare for students to return in the fall, she said.
Students moved back into dorms last week in 30-minute time slots and orientation took place in small groups with physically distant activities, Gumm said. Orientation organizers used their creativity to develop new games and activities to give students a fun orientation experience as well as all the information they need to know, she said.
Official enrollment numbers will not be reported until after the 11th day of school, but so far it appears that enrollment is not far from what was expected before the pandemic, Gumm said.
The university has been able to physically distance 90 percent of classes by expanding into spaces that are not normally used for that purpose, such as Simmons Great Hall, Gumm said. Desks have been moved apart and faculty members have Plexiglas in front of their lecterns, she said. The university has also purchased 58 Owl 360 degree conference room cameras so that students who are quarantined or joining the class via Zoom live can participate and have a more immersive experience, Gumm said.
Chapel, a long-held tradition at JBU, will also be conducted differently, Gumm said. Typically, a thousand students fill the cathedral three times a week. This year, students will be be divided into groups of 20 to 25 students who will meet once a week with a faculty or staff leader to watch a prerecorded worship followed by group discussion, she said. Sunday evening worships will take place on the quad, where dots have been
placed to mark off six-foot distances so students can watch from a chair or blanket, she said.
The school cafeteria seating arrangements have been revamped so that about 350 students can sit six feet apart at one time, Gumm said. The cafeteria has traffic flow lines and everything will be served by dining staff, she said. Students will also be able to pick up their food and eat outside or take their food back to their dorm rooms. JBU has added an ordering app with a full menu so that students have the option to pick up food at an outside door as well, she said. Community
members will not be allowed to dine in the cafeteria and the university will not be renting space to outside groups this year, she said.
Students are asked to wear close fitting masks at all times and bandannas or neck gaiters are not allowed, Gumm said. The only times students are allowed to go without a mask is while they are eating or in their rooms with only their roommates and the door closed, she said. Students will be required to wear masks in classrooms even while they are socially distanced, she said.
“Our understanding, from the Arkansas Department of Health, is they look at how close, how long and were you wearing masks,” she said. “The more protections in place for lengthy times, the less likely someone would have to go into quarantine if someone else tested positive.”
Six students were in quarantine earlier this month, the university said in an email to parents and students. However, they had been cleared by Aug. 11, Gumm said. One student tested positive but has recovered and five students who were in quarantine have been released, she said. They were all international students who were living on campus over the summer, she said.
If students test positive, they will be isolated, Gumm said. Students are asked to return to their home to isolate or quarantine if possible but the university has set aside 100 beds for isolation, she said. Students who are in isolation will be allowed to be around other positive students, she said. Students who have been exposed but haven’t tested positive will be quarantined in a single room away from others, she said.
Students who are in quarantine or isolation will be delivered meals and snack baskets and will be able to continue attending class remotely as long as they have only mild symptoms, Gumm said. The university has systems in place to monitor students’ symptoms and staff members have been trained to do contact tracing, she said.
Community Physicians Group, which has a clinic down the street from JBU as well as a satellite office on campus, is in the process of getting a rapid testing machine with 2,400 test kits that will allow them to do covid-19 testing on the spot, which will help monitor the virus, Gumm said.
School staff members will be spending 50 percent of their time on campus and 50 percent of their time working remotely so that only half of the workforce will be in the building at any time, Gumm said. The university is working with students and staff members who are at high risk, she said.