ST. CLOUD— It's back-to-school like never before.
Alongside other schools across the city, state and nation, St. Cloud State University is in the midst of preparing for the start of a new school year. The university will welcome students back to campus this fall.
"Generally, I think students are very excited to come back," Associate Dean of Students and Executive Director of Residence Life Jen Sell Matzke said.
But the undertaking is massive— and in many ways, new— as the campus prepares to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic that closed schools in the spring and sent students home to learn online.
Student learning
SCSU has mandated mask-wearing in all university buildings, classrooms and labs for faculty and staff, students and visitors.
"That's an important part of protecting our pack and keeping each other safe," SCSU Director of Emergency Preparedness Jenn Super said Monday.
Classes begin Aug. 24 in several formats, with some offered fully online, some fully in-person and some as a mix of both. Furthermore, classes with multiple sections could be taught in different ways, Super said.
Even for classes taught in-person, technology will help students who can't show up to class, either for high-risk individuals or for students who need to quarantine or isolate.
"Our on-campus courses and even the (HyFlex) that some of the course will be taught on campus, they're gonna be taught largely in classrooms that are Zoom capable, and so our students can elect to take that course via Zoom," Super said. "... We want them to get their education and be safe."
But classes that rely onhands-on, in-person learning— for instance, in a ceramics studio— are not so easy to put on a screen, SCSU Associate Provost for Faculty and Student AffairsDr. La Vonne Cornell-Swanson said Thursday. The format in which classes are offered was discussed and negotiated with faculty, both Super and Swanson said.
In addition to technological adaptations in some classrooms, the classrooms themselves are undergoing minor makeovers in preparation for social distancing. The university is identifying classroom capacities andremoving or blocking off furniture to accommodate distancing requirements.
"That limits significantly what our course sizes can be," Super said.
In non-pandemic years prior, some introductory courses would see a few hundred students, she said. Now, no class will exceed 250 students.
The alternative grading system implemented in the spring will not carry over into the fall for Minnesota State schools, Cornell-Swanson said.
Student living
Students living on campus will all be doing so in single rooms for the fall semester, Sell Matzke said Tuesday.Students who were inroommate groups had the opportunity topick rooms next to each other.
But plans for student living, like so many plans in the era of the pandemic, are subject to change by circ*mstance and could do so again after speaking with the Times. Rules may become more strict or more relaxed as time brings changes in health guidelines, case counts and the Minnesota State system, Sell Matzke said.
The exact number of students planning to live on campus is in flux, as SCSU extended the cancellation period for students living on campus to July 31. Still, Sell Matzke expects the residence halls to fill up. The university can accommodate approximately 1,200 students on campus with the new configuration, Super said, and Sell Matzke said already about 1,100 students have signed up to live on campus.
Sherburne Hall, which the university announced was closing beginningthis fall, will remain open for students "if the desire is there," Super said.
There will also be space dedicated forisolation in Benton Hall, which Sell Matzke said was not being used for several years but was cleared, refurnished and prepared for students again.
However, if students prefer to go home during this time, they can, Sell Matzke said.
In the past, SCSU offered housing to St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and maybe 200 SCTCC students utilized that opportunity. This year, SCSU students have been given priority, Super said.
And of SCSU students, housing priority will be given to first-year students, Sell Matzke said.First-year students are required to live on campus, Sell Matzke said, but can file for an exemption. First-year students make up nearly three-quarters of residence hall population at SCSU.
The move-in process for students will be modified. SCSU will offer drop-and-go daysover a 10-day period, Super said. Students will sign up for onemove-in period to bring items into their room and then return home until Aug. 20.
"It's just not a good idea for us to have our typical move-in day," Super said. "That brings a lot of people into our halls."
Since Husky Haulers, or students who help carry belongings up to rooms, will also not be available, SCSU is sanitizing wheeled laundry tubs for families to use.
Common spaces have been arranged to promote physical distancing, and each space will have posted occupancy limits. Study, game and music rooms will need to be reserved.
Bathroom spaces are even more specifically designated. Students will have "Husky packs," or small groups of students who are assigned to specifictoilets, sinksand showers. Each student will have their own assigned toilet, sinkand showerthat they share with a few others also assigned to those facilities.
"We're trying to figure out, what does a family unit look like for us in the residence halls?" Sell Matzke said.
The bathroom assignments are madeto aidcontact tracing efforts, Sell Matzke said.
These measures, however, all rely on student follow-through.
"The success of it is gonna be dependent on students helping us to follow the guidelines," she said.
Students can have one visitor in their room at a time. Community advisers, more commonly known as RAs, will be back and are working on how to have meetings and plan small engagement events in safe ways, Sell Matzke said. She said these individuals are important in helping create a sense of normalcy for students.
"In the midst of all of this, our commitment to equity and inclusion and student belonging cannot waver, and so that's top of mind for us," Sell Matzke said.
Garvey Commons will open in the fall, Super said. All food will be dished and served by employees as opposed to self-serve, and there will be more limited food choices for shops around campus than what students may be used to. Grab-and-go meals, like boxed lunches students can take out of the commons,will be more predominant this year. Students eating in the commons will eat alone, with one chair at each table.
"It's gonna look and feel a bit different in Garvey," Super said.
Student athletics
As of Wednesday, NCAA Division II fall sports are continuingwith a reduced schedule, SCSU Director of Athletics Heather Weems said. And while some conferences are deciding to suspend fall play, the NSIC wasstill planning on fall sports.
Reducing the schedule will take away some of the travel expenses for schools, Weems said.
But when it comes to money, Weems wants to make one thing clear.
"We're doing this and we continue to problem solve and try and look at how we can bring sports back because they are an important part of our student experience, our student athlete experience and the community experience," she said. "... Most of the schools at the division two level, we're not making money off of athletics. We are doing thisbecause we believe inthe experience that it provides and the robustness that it provides to the university and our community, and because we think our student athletes gain from the experience and we know that they want to play."
Decisions are made at several levels: the NCAA level, conference level, system-wide and as a university, Weems said. But in athletics, schools are also navigating rules in other states who are also in the conference.
"It is trying to find some places where we can standardize, knowing that within each of our own locations, we have to follow our own local guidelines," Weems said.
Some voluntary small-group weight training or conditioning began at the end of June. But protocols for practices and games are still in the process.
"There's a whole (other) level depending on whether or not fans are in the stands," Weems said.
For now, she is taking baby steps forward in preparationswith the understanding that— for now— "we're playing in the fall," Weems said.
Sarah Kocher is thebusiness reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach her at 320-255-8799or skocher@stcloudtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahAKocher.
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