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MTU students move in

Jenna Jorns, a first-year biomedical engineering student from Green Bay, Wisconsin, moves into her room in Wadsworth Hall on the Michigan Technological University campus Friday. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — Trunks popped open, dollies were loaded up and bare rooms eventually got filled with possessions and people.

For all the ways in which Michigan Technological University’s move-in weekend was normal, COVID-19 also brought some change.

Jenna Jorns, a first-year biomedical engineering student, moved into her room in Wadsworth Hall Friday with the help of her parents. COVID-19 didn’t worry her that much. The possibility of the school having to close campus did.

“It’s weird, kind of scary, thinking I’m just going to leave right away,” she said.

To maximize social distancing, move-in was spread across two days. About 350 of the 1,100 students moved in Friday, said housing director Matthew Weekley.

The desire to avoid clustering even extended to the scheduling. Students from the same section of a dorm moved in at different times. They also make sure that no more than 15 students are using the same entrance per hour — about 45 total, assuming two people helping each student move.

To reduce crowding, 213 three- and four-person rooms had been reduced to two-person rooms.

The move-in had gone smoothly so far, Weekley said.

“I’m very pleased, very excited about everything,” he said. “And I love the energy the students are coming to campus with and what they’re bringing.”

Bathrooms are being cleaned a couple of times a day. Halls are also being cleaned multiple times a day, seven days a week.

“We’re really focusing in on those high-touch points,” Weekley said.

At the front desk of the dorms, Plexiglass separates the staff. Common areas are also marked with capacity limits.

They’re also marketed to students with the “Be Smart, Do Your Part” campaign, to remind them of the importance of social distancing. That’s taken the form of emails, videos and social media to educate students about the university’s Flex plan and what to expect when they get to the dorms.

“We want to make sure we’re keeping the entire community safe, and educating our students,” Weekley said.

Some universities that began school earlier, such as the University of North Carolina and Michigan State University, have already gone back to remote instruction after COVID-19 clusters were spotted there.

Weekley said the university’s flex plan has options in place for what to do if the conditions improve or get worse. The university is at Level 3 of a five-tier COVID response plan, with Level 1 being the least severe.

Some mix of face-to-face and remote learning is in place for phases 2 through 4; phase 1 is a full return to in-person learning, while phase 5 is all remote.

“We’re trying to put those things in place, so that way if we do it, we’re not saying, ‘OK, now what should we do?'” Weekley said. “We’ve already planned what health and safety Level 4 looks like for us, and of course Level 5.”

With only two in-person classes for the first semester, it will mean more time in the dorm room, said Jacob Pilon, a second-year mechanical engineering student.

With the limits on how many people can be in a dorm room, it won’t be like normal, when there might be six of his friends hanging out playing video games, he said.

The solution might be either playing from their own rooms, in smaller groups, or finding more things to do outdoors, like hiking or trips to the beach, he said.

Pilon plans to wear a mask and follow the rules. He prefers in-person learning, which forces him to attention, he said.

“I don’t know about other people, but I want to be up here as long as I can,” he said. “I don’t want to be sent home early and do this from my own desk.”

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