The COVID-19 pandemic has made for many changes at St. Paul’s, none larger than those impacting our academic programming and residence life this fall.
“Our role has always been to provide a memorable, rewarding, safe and supportive student experience,” said Steve Prentice, Director of Student Life. “This year will be different, but students will still be welcomed and supported within our community, the same way they always have been.”
Student safety is most important and there will be increased safety measures implemented across campus to reflect this. As a social-distancing precaution, all incoming students living in residence will be staying in single occupancy rooms and increased cleaning and sanitation will occur daily, in high touch and common areas such as doors, hallways and washrooms.
We know a large part of the student experience is social and with so many elements being moved to virtual formats, student mental health will be a top priority this year. We will be enhancing our don training to better support mental health issues, working closely with campus partners to ensure the health and well-being of our students.
Students participating in one of the Living-Learning Communities (LLC) will still live on the same floor as other students in the same LLC and have an upper-year Peer Leader running activities and events. These will be administered in-person or virtually, to enable student connection with course content, professors, and their field of study.
To keep students safe moving into St. Paul’s, move-in days will have a phased approach. Students will be moving in with their families at designated time slots over the course of several days. This ensures that carts and high touch surfaces can be cleaned before each family arrives and the size of each incoming group will be limited. Upon arrival, each student will be provided with their welcome kit which this year will include items that promote physical distancing and healthy habits such as hand sanitizer and a face mask.
Common areas such as Watson’s Eatery are another area of focus. Food services at Watson’s Eatery will provide all food items directly to students, eliminating the possibility another student has touched their food or utensils. Common areas may have maximum capacities or be closed throughout the year if social distancing is not possible.
All approaches in operations are planned to be flexible and evolve according to recommendations and guidelines from local public health units.
For any additional questions about the operations of residence this fall, please reach out to Steve Prentice, director of student life.