Throughout the summer, OU has issued a series of announcements on its plans to reopen the campus to in-person classes this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ahead of classes starting on Monday, The Daily has compiled what we know about the university’s plans for the semester, in terms of the university's COVID-19 process, masking guidelines, housing protocols, transportation rules and facility procedures.
COVID-19 process:
Screening
If OU community members are absent from campus for seven consecutive days or more, travel outside of Oklahoma, attend a gathering of 10 or more people who fail to follow OU’s social distancing or mask guidelines, come in close contact with COVID-19-positive individuals, experience symptoms, test positive or have a positive-testing household member, they must fill out the university’s COVID-19 screening tool. The tool will then advise users whether to return to campus.
The university has not said how it plans to enforce the use of the screening tool.
Contact-tracing
According to an email to The Daily from OU Director of Media Relations Kesha Keith, Goddard Health Center’s contact-tracing team will notify anyone who has had “recent direct contact” — which Keith said is considered by the Oklahoma State Department of Health as 15 or more minutes of direct exposure within six feet — with a positive COVID-19 case.
Keith said students in a classroom setting — which feature socially distanced seating areas — would normally not be considered within that definition of close contact and would therefore not be required to self-isolate.
Isolation/quarantine housing
If a student who lives in on-campus housing tests positive for COVID-19 or has a direct contact — someone with 15 minutes or more of direct exposure to COVID-19 — they will be required to live in isolation/quarantine housing in Traditions or return to an off-campus home. Keith said each of these locations has its own entry and HVAC system.
OU Health Services will work with students for recovery, OU Food Services will provide delivered meals and OU Residence Life will check in with these students daily and connect them with resources and services as needed.
Rooms are designed for students to have one bedroom and one bathroom per person, Keith said. Students assigned to these spaces will not be paired with existing residents.
Students must be cleared by Goddard Health Center before leaving isolation housing. According to the Housing website, students should pack everything they will need for at least two weeks before going to isolation/quarantine housing.
According to the Housing website’s FAQ section, the university has not yet released any information about online or hybrid courses that would allow students who are ill or not able to come to class to participate in the course.
Attendance
Class absences caused by illness or isolation will not be penalized and formal documentation from a healthcare provider will not be required. Students who feel sick or have been exposed to COVID-19 are encouraged to stay home. Students should continue to do coursework “as much as possible.”
COVID-19 Dashboard
Keith originally said in a July 6 email to The Daily the university does not plan to continually provide data on community members who test positive for COVID-19, citing that the health department is “chiefly responsible” for announcing positive cases and contact-tracing. Keith said because the university is not notified every time a community member tests positive, reporting those numbers would be “ultimately, likely inaccurate.”
However, an Aug. 21 press release said OU is developing an online dashboard for COVID-19 data that is set to launch next week.
Other institutions in the Big 12 — including the University of Texas and Texas Christian University — are providing updated information on COVID-19 case counts on their campuses. Although the university will be tracking COVID-19 data on campus, they have not announced any specific criteria which would trigger a cancellation of all in-person classes and shift to fully-virtual instruction.
Masking:
Policy
All those in indoor university facilities must wear fabric or disposable surgical-style masks that cover their noses and mouths. OU does not permit bandanas, scarves, gaiters or buffs as acceptable masks. Non-medical grade masks with exhalation valves may not be worn unless a surgical-style mask is worn over it.
Individuals may remove masks only if they are in their own enclosed private workspace with no one else present or in their dorm room; if they are eating, drinking, bathing, or sleeping; or playing a musical instrument or singing as part of an academic assignment.
Reuse and cleaning
Disposable filtration surgical-style masks should be worn on campus for five consecutive days or until soiled, whichever occurs first. Those in research and clinical areas are subject to department reuse policies.
Fabric masks should be washed and dried after each day’s wear. The university provides this link from the CDC on how to wash masks. Appropriate cleaning of the mask is the responsibility of the individual.
Distribution
Professors will have disposable surgical-style masks on-hand for students who forget to bring their masks to class. Employees can request a mask with this online request form.
Accommodations for medical conditions
If a student is not able to comply with the masking policy due to medical reasons, the student should contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center to request an accommodation.
Discipline
If an OU community member refuses to follow the mask policy, they will be subject to disciplinary action including verbal and written warnings, a fee and more.
Housing:
Guests
According to the university’s Housing website, guests are strongly discouraged in residence halls, though each resident is allowed one guest who must remain with them at all times. Guests should remain in lobbies and wear PPE. All guests should leave the residence halls by midnight.
Move-in testing
All campus residents were required to take an at-home COVID-19 test before being cleared to move in on campus. Out of 4,516 students who took the test, 62 were positive. According to Keith, students moving onto campus over the next few weeks will also use the at-home tests.
According to a university update, one student has tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving on campus. The student lives in unspecified on-campus housing and is currently living in isolation housing, Keith said. The university’s contact-tracing procedures are underway, and individuals who had contact with the student are being informed.
Air filtration and upgrades
OU is continuing to receive shipments of Synexis Sphere microbial reduction devices to be installed in every room of Adams, Couch and Walker Centers. Keith said in an email to The Daily that while the Synexis Sphere devices are still arriving, the university has installed Synexis Sentry antimicrobial cleaners in hallways and lobbies.
Keith said the Sentry devices cover 2,000 square feet. Because each hallway and wing of rooms is 4,000 square feet, the university installed two units in each hallway.
Keith said Synexis sent the Sentry devices at no cost to the university while the Sphere units continue to arrive.
Manual faucets and toilets in common areas and community bathrooms now have touchless fixtures.
Cleaning
According to the Housing and Food website, “touchpoints and common areas” are disinfected daily. Residential and common spaces receive electrostatic cleaning weekly and more frequently as needed.
Masking
According to the Housing and Food website, students are strongly encouraged but not required to wear masks in their dorm rooms, “particularly when others are present,” unless they are participating in activities in which a face mask cannot practically be worn, such as eating, drinking, bathing or sleeping. Students must wear masks outside of their individual dorm rooms.
Dining:
Options
For the duration of the fall, OU has closed the Bookmark Café at Bizzell Memorial Library, Starbucks at the Oklahoma Memorial Union, the Jan Marie and Richard J. Crawford University Club at the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Freshens at Sarkeys Fitness Center, Bedrock Café at Sarkeys Energy Center, Redbud Café at Sam Noble Museum, and The Trailer at OU.
Payment
Couch Restaurants, Residential Colleges and Wagner Dining Halls will only accept meal plans for payment. The Oklahoma Memorial Union, Cate Center and the National Weather Center will accept meal plans or credit cards to help maintain venue capacity limits instituted throughout campus. Coffee Trucks will accept meal plans, credit cards or Sooner Sense. Cash will not be accepted at any campus dining locations.
Protocol and safety measures
The university has installed safety measures for dining spaces, including plexiglass shields at registers and food stations, stanchions for line directions, hand sanitizers at building entries and floor decals for foot traffic and social distancing. Dining areas have reduced occupancies with tables spaced six feet apart and alternating booths taped off, and the university has designated entry and exit doors where possible.
There will be no shared condiments, salt and pepper shakers or napkin dispensers. All orders will be packaged “to-go” and there will be no self-serve lines. Employees will be stationed in dining rooms to clean and sanitize at all times.
Transportation:
CART riding
CART will only allow 20 to 25 bus riders at a time, and everyone must sit at least three feet apart and wear a mask. Riders must enter through the front door and exit through the back door. Signage indicating seating restrictions, foot traffic control and mask requirements will be provided. Drivers must wear masks when passengers are in the vehicle.
Additional routes
Five additional buses and drivers will be added to the Lloyd Noble Center route during peak times. One additional bus and driver will be added to the Apartment Loops, and additional drivers will be available during peak times.
Cleaning
Drivers will be responsible for disinfecting the steering wheel, control panels, driver’s seat, entryway handrail and any used passenger areas. CART will be sanitizing buses nightly with an electrostatic cleaning device.
Facilities:
Classroom capacity and scheduling
Course sections with 40 students or fewer may be held in person. Sections with enrollments over 40 have moved online. According to the university’s Safe and Resilient Instructional Plan, this amounts to 14 percent of all sections.
Class schedules have been spread out to accommodate 30-minute windows between classes, rather than the traditional 10-minute window, to limit the number of people in buildings.
The university said in its Safe and Resilient Instructional Plan it was aiming for 50 to 75 percent maximum capacity in classrooms “wherever practical” for increased social distancing.
Upgrades
OU has installed no-touch disposal receptacles, hand sanitizers and signage encouraging proper hygiene. The university is replacing manual bathroom fixtures with touchless, motion sensor fixtures.
According to the university’s Clean and Green website, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recommends the use of MERV13 filters to mitigate airborne exposure of COVID-19. The website says, “Many OU facilities currently use MERV8 filters that will need to be upgraded.” There is no update on whether those filters have been upgraded.
Cleaning
Classrooms, restrooms, elevators and residential common areas will receive weekly — and more frequently, if needed — electrostatic cleaning.
Protocol
One person at a time is permitted in restrooms when social distancing cannot be maintained. Individuals must wear masks in restrooms. Public seating areas allow one person per six feet, and elevators will allow four masked occupants.
