Cautious return

A cautious return

Over the summer, faculty and staff simulated a socially-distanced classroom in the Peter B. Lewis Building. Red tape on the desktop indicates a six-foot separation

Signs of the times in Nord Hall

With the coronavirus lurking, students, faculty and staff face new rules and a quieter campus

Like universities everywhere, Case Western Reserve monitored the pandemic and pondered how to safely launch the fall semester. Ultimately, administrators decided that meant bringing fewer students back to a quieter, cautious campus.

Classes were scheduled to resume August 24 with the only certainty being that, in the time of Covid-19, any and everything could change.

Less than a week before students were scheduled to begin moving back into residence halls August 12, the university announced it was making all dorm rooms single occupancy. That meant there was no longer enough room for everyone. Firstyear, fourth-year and international students were welcomed back to campus. Most second-year and third-year students were excluded from university housing, including Greek housing.

“We are sorry that health concerns mean that we cannot accommodate all of you this fall,” university President Barbara Snyder and Provost Ben Vinson III wrote in the August 6 email. “For now, however, we must do all we can to protect your wellbeing in the conditions we face today.”

They said the rising numbers of infections regionally and nationally convinced them more efforts were needed to mitigate health risks. In a separate memo, faculty were instructed to plan for far more online classes, especially for second-year and third-year students.

Meanwhile, plans called for returning students to be temperature checked and tested for Covid-19 before moving into dorms and suites. They would be handed a drawstring bag containing face masks, a digital thermometer and other new dorm-life essentials.

In that and many other ways, the pandemic has altered campus life. • Students and staff are expected to mask up, wash up and practice social distancing throughout campus • Classrooms have been reconfigured with capacity limits, assigned seats and Plexiglas dividers • In dorms, students face restricted common areas and shower schedules

• Dining halls are open but most meals are being boxed to go • With varsity sports and large events canceled, small groups and outdoor discussions are the new norm, at least while the weather is warm

• The fall semester will end with

Thanksgiving break

Over the summer, faculty and staff simulated a socially-distanced classroom in the Peter B. Lewis Building, offering a preview of the pandemic classroom, with students in masks and the instructor miced behind a plastic shield.

For students, Covid-19 has made college life uncertain and more difficult, though they are trying to take it in stride.

“It’s still exciting, mostly just to see people,” said Ben Baierl, a fourth-year computer science major. A member of the track team, he’s training in anticipation of sports returning in spring. Even though most of his classes are online, Baierl is content to Zoom in from his suite in The Village, and he’s not the only one.

“The act of simply being back on campus kind of gets my mind ready to learn,” said Cooper Reif, a third-year mechanical engineering major. He said he’s sad he won’t see many of his friends on campus this semester but that he feels “very lucky” to have secured an off campus apartment.

“There will still be campus life, which I think is great for students who have been cooped up at home all summer,” he said.

The university has reminded students that their cooperation is essential to inperson classes continuing. A new motto, being widely circulated, speaks to a new college try: “Think for the good of my neighbor.”

Everyone is being asked to pledge to mask up, wash hands, respect social distance and assess one’s own health daily.

Visit https://tinyurl.com/back2cwru for the latest updates and information on CWRU's response to Covid-19.

Ben Baierl still hopes to be sprinting for the Spartans in the spring