RICHMOND — Students must pass a test unrelated to academic proficiency before they can call the University of Richmond campus home this school year. Their first stop upon arrival to UR is a concourse in Robins Stadium, where COVID-19 testing is being conducted.
Students occupying on-campus housing must bring thermometers and monitor their temperatures each morning prior to leaving their rooms.
The school arranged furniture in residential rooms to meet a physical distancing framework, and students are prohibited from rearranging the furniture unless they receive permission to do so. No furniture can be brought by students.
Those are three of the guidelines distinguishing this year’s UR move-in days, which began Friday and will last six days. All students must be tested for the coronavirus, or present proof of a negative test from the last 72 hours, before they can begin moving possessions into residential quarters.
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Students who do not live on campus are also required to undergo testing.
UR students involved in school transition programs began moving in Friday, with the process for new students scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The staggered move-in continues Aug. 19-21 for returning students.
Men’s and women’s basketball players came back to campus on July 15, and have been engaged in conditioning and practice sessions.
Staggered move-in days for the general student population were established to ensure social distancing and reduce congestion during testing. Students signed up for specific move-in time slots. Each student is allowed to bring no more than two helpers.
The school expects to notify students of test results within two or three days. Until the results are known, students can remain with roommates but are expected to practice strict social distancing and keep track of other close contacts (less than 6 feet apart for more than 15 minutes).
Students will use the pick-up option at the school’s Heilman Dining Center until receiving a negative test result. A positive test will send a student to modular units recently put in place for isolation and quarantine, so they can live outside of occupied residence halls. The modular units were set up in campus parking lots. With those and another designated area, the school has 158 beds for isolation and quarantine.
UR will offer on-campus COVID-19 testing for students throughout the fall semester.
According to Cynthia Price, the school’s associate vice president of media and public relations, UR is in a physical distancing framework stage that does not permit “external visitors,” such as media members, on campus.
Classes begin Aug. 24.