Arriving students to find new COVID-19 rules at Butler, Marian universities
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Students moving back to college need to be prepared to get tested and prove they’re healthy when they show up to their universities.
Butler University says students should only pack what they absolutely need and show up 30 minutes before their move-in time after filling out the screening on Butler’s website. This way, students can get screened in person and tested for COVID-19 on campus prior to moving into campus housing and have test results in 30 minutes.
Marian University says it’ll be sticking to the tried-and-true masks and social distancing, but the college is putting a lot of stock in a screening app when students come through.
“If you have any kind of a gathering, everybody’s got to show their shield,” Marian University President Daniel Elsener said. “Any kind of a gathering. So if you want to come visit, you’ll have to ask someone to go through the questions and then they’ll go with you to be the guest lecturer or whatever.”
Marian University is putting a lot of trust in the app as the main line of defense. But on days like move-in, there will be other measures in place like students only being allowed two helpers and suggestions that anyone 65 and older should stay home.
“We’ll have temperature checks as you come in,” Elsener said. “Especially if there’s any visitors coming. So that will give us another layer and shield.”
Both Marian and Butler have similar plans in place if a student tests positive for COVID-19. They say students should leave until they are in line with the university’s health guidelines or isolate if they are unable to leave.
“We have some backup rooms we’ve rented in really close proximity, in a hotel, if we need to quarantine anybody. We have a backup plan,” Elsener said. “We came in this with a great game plan. I like our players: students, faculty, staff. And we’re going to win. We’re going to win in a pandemic.”
IU Bloomington on Friday plans on sharing more on its move-in procedures — logistics, arrival testing, and safety precautions — that will be helpful for the student body to know.