Hofstra's reopening regulations: What you need to know

The Office of Residence Life has made significant changes to the residence halls to maintain social distancing and safety protocols. // Photo courtesy of Annemarie LePard

In an effort to maintain safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hofstra University will be implementing new rules and regulations this fall when residential students return to campus.

Hofstra’s “Safe Start” plan was drafted in partnership with Northwell Health to assist the university in reopening its campus under federal, local and state COVID-19 guidelines.

The plan requires all students to practice social distancing and wear masks within the residence halls. It also prohibits visitation – including between students living in the same building – and mandates a 14-day quarantine for students traveling from states that are on New York’s travel advisory list.  Residents traveling from states that are not on the list can return to campus starting Saturday, Aug. 15 and are allowed only one person to help them move in.

Residence Halls

Hofstra needs to safely accommodate all 2,300 students returning to campus. No triples or quads (three or four people in one room) are being offered, but Residence Life is still allowing doubles (two people per room) and suites (up to four people living together) to be occupied, according to Assistant Vice President of University Relations, Karla Schuster.

Some students are weary of Hofstra’s decision to still offer doubles and suites this semester, given the state of the pandemic. “There is a greater risk when two people are living together, especially if those people are going to different classes,” said sophomore drama major Hannah Lovitt.

The Office of Residence Life is labeling roommates and suitemates as “family units.”  Residents within a family unit will not be required to wear masks around each other while inside their shared room or suite.  However, some students say they would still choose to wear a mask at all times around a roommate or suitemate, despite the family unit rule.

In some situations, students are living with strangers and lack a sense of familiarity with their roommate at first. “For the first few weeks I would wear a mask around [my roommate] just because I have a personal fear,” said sophomore English and drama major Kathryn Blakeley.

Other students worry they might unintentionally spread the virus to members of their family unit just by leaving the building to go to class or get food.  “I work in a medical setting,” said junior global studies and community health major Brooklyn Francis. “I'm going to have to wear PPE and work with patients coming in and out, and I wouldn't want to subject [my roommate] to that.”

For students who do not feel comfortable living with another person, they may not have the option to request a single for this upcoming semester. “The number of single rooms available has remained the same, and they are all filled at this time,” Schuster said. “But because we have reduced [the] overall density in the residence halls to ensure physical distancing, single rooms comprise a larger percentage of our overall residence hall space this year.”

Restrooms

The university’s guidelines state that students living in the towers – which have communal restrooms – will be assigned one specific toilet, sink and shower. These facilities will be cleaned twice daily, and residents will be provided disinfecting supplies. Suite-style buildings will be deep cleaned before students arrive.

“Clean your areas, have a set schedule for cleaning the bathroom at least twice a week and take personal accountability,” said Rhea Bathija, a Spring 2020 finance graduate. “Maybe [ResLife] could also clean [suite-style dorms] once a month to help. It would really benefit the students.”

Laundry

Laundry room capacity will be limited to one person at a time in suite-style buildings, and three people at a time in towers, according to Schuster. However, the lack of information about the virus’ ability to linger on surfaces like clothing has left some students feeling concerned about coming into contact with other people’s clothes.

“I really don't want to touch [anyone’s] clothes – COVID-19 or not,” Francis said. “That's more of a question of enforcing; like are they going to force people to come and pick up their clothes when [their laundry] is done? What can you really do?”

Enforcement of Safety Protocols

“Our health and safety policy for residence halls will be enforced in the same way that all residence hall policies are,” Schuster said, “through a combination of education, peer expectations and regular monitoring and reinforcement by Residence Life staff and other University officials.”

In some instances, the responsibility of enforcing preventative protocols will fall primarily on students. “How are you going to make sure someone quarantined? How are you going to make sure someone is following the rules? I cannot tell you,” said Branka Kristic, director of Parent and Family Programs. “We are a family – the Hofstra community. We depend on each other to make sure all of us follow the rules. Nothing is sure in this life, but if we, all of us, follow the rules, and we care for each other, do we really need policing?”

The university plans to monitor the wellness of students with a daily health questionnaire located on the online student portal. The self-guided exam will ask students if they have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms within the past 24 hours. Students are required to answer the health screening every day before attending class.

“I don't know if filling out a daily health screening will be [an effective way] to determine if someone can go to class,” Lovitt said. “What if someone's not feeling well, and they decide to go to class, but they lie on the form that we have to fill out[?] They can end up [spreading] the virus in class.”

Some students are skeptical of the Hofstra community’s willingness to voluntarily comply with the rules. “Not everyone will wear masks and maintain social distancing,” said junior journalism major Analise Beres. “We [are] very social beings, and we are itching for things to go back to normal.”

“This just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen,” Francis said. “Reopening campus is not a good idea in general.” While many students have expressed similar skepticism about the effectiveness of Hofstra’s reopening plan, others are hopeful that these precautionary measures will be sufficient enough for the university to continue operating in person until the semester’s end in November.