IUP plans to have single dorms, in-person classes this fall

Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced a return to campus this fall, in a plan that includes face-to-face instruction and residential living.

Come fall, all students living in residence halls will have a private bedroom. Some will have a private bathroom as well; shared bathrooms will be used by no more than two students.

In a letter to employees, students and prospective students Thursday morning, President Michael Driscoll described guidelines for in-person teaching, living in dorms and accessing university resources created for the pandemic.

“We will provide a high-quality educational experience,” Driscoll wrote. “We will maintain standards and initiatives that protect your health and safety, as well as the health and safety of faculty and staff members and of our community. We will continue to hold fast to the ties that bind the IUP family together.”

Classes will be formatted to maintain social distancing and focus on synchronous instruction, according to the letter.

Students will be divided into “teams,” and each team will attend class on a specific day. On days when a team is not scheduled to be inside the classroom, they will participate via Zoom or similar videoconferencing technology. Classrooms will be sanitized and set up to maintain social distancing, Driscoll said.

The university is installing equipment to make this plan possible, and there will be a Summer Academy for students and faculty to learn technology skills.

“Distance learning is — and will continue to be — an important mode of delivery, pandemic or no pandemic,” he said.

Michelle Fryling, executive director of media relations, said it’s not yet clear if some students who had planned to live on campus will now commute, since students cannot have roommates. But the university is confident it can house about 2,200 students this way without making significant modifications — and administrators said they don’t think they’ll have to turn anyone away.

“We believe we can accommodate anyone who wants on-campus housing,” Fryling said. “We have to. We want to. We need to keep our students safe, and we need to follow those recommendations and the national health and safety guidelines that come to us.”

Housing costs vary between private rooms and shared suites, according to the university website. Fryling said the university will work with students to ensure everyone has affordable housing. Freshmen at IUP are required to live on campus.

“We will continue to work with students so no one is disenfranchised by the cost,” she said.

Dining facilities also will be set up to maintain social distancing, the letter said.

During the shutdown, Driscoll said, many student groups have continued to meet remotely. Meetings will continue to be held remotely, and events will be virtual this fall.

The university is awaiting guidelines from the NCAA and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference when it comes to fall sports.

“Things are so unknown right now,” Fryling said.

The university has appointed a planning committee to promote health and safety, which will provide return-to-campus packages to each student with masks, hand sanitizer and other protective equipment. Hand sanitizer stations are being installed in all buildings and public areas, along with signs to promote social distancing.

Local, same-day covid-19 testing will be available at Indiana Regional Medical Center, minutes away from campus.

Nadene L’Amoreaux, a professor and president of IUP’s chapter of the Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and University Faculty, said the union still worries the university is not prepared for factors including office hours, public transportation, library materials or facilities in a way that allows compliance with public health guidelines.

She said the chapter has “not seen any specific plans.”

“This announcement was made without notification to or in consultation with IUP-APSCUF,” L’Amoreaux said in a statement. “We have a myriad of concerns to be addressed that include safety issues for our students, staff and faculty members, many of whom are in high-risk groups or are caring for family members who are in high-risk groups.”

Fryling said the university recently sent out a survey to students to gauge how well they had communicated during the pandemic. Fryling said students were “overwhelmingly” pleased with the university’s response and said they were looking forward to returning to campus.

The survey results were not made public. Fryling said the data are being used internally.

“We think we do teaching and learning in the classroom really well,” she said. “So we’d like to return to that kind of modality as much as possible, but we need to keep in mind health and safety regulations.”

IUP is one of many universities in the region preparing to adjust procedures and make a cautious return to campus. The University of Pittsburgh explored the idea of a “hybrid” semester similar to IUP’s, incorporating online and in-person elements. Duquesne University announced last week it is preparing for three possible scenarios to resume classes. California University of Pennsylvania and Waynesburg University are planning for face-to-face instruction, and Pennsylvania State University is waiting to decide, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

David Pidgeon, director of public relations for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, of which IUP is a part, said each university in the system is making independent decisions for their respective campuses.

“The leadership of the universities are examining a host of options for their individual campuses and exchanging ideas with other State System institutions,” Pidgeon said in a statement. “The Office of the Chancellor is part of those conversations, and at this time, each university will make a choice that’s best for their campuses. Central to the decision, of course, is how can quality academic programming be delivered in a way that protects the health and safety of everyone who makes up the campus community.”