Captains Relaunch

Face coverings are required to be worn in the following situations unless you are unable to do so for medical reasons:

• all indoor areas with the exception of private offices
• outside on the Great Lawn and Trible Plaza and throughout campus except when 6’ of distance from others can be maintained
• campus dining locations, except when eating or drinking

Removal of the face covering during the work day should be limited to when you are more than 6 feet away from another person and you are:

• sitting at your private desk or work station
• eating or drinking

With rare exceptions, Christopher Newport’s facilities, including grounds and buildings, are open only for official university business and are not open to visitors or the general public. The host must fulfill important obligations summarized in this checklist:

Host checklist

• Obtain approval from the provost or appropriate vice president at least a week in advance.
• Provide Christopher Newport’s COVID–19 requirements to the visitor prior to the visit. If arriving from an international location, the visitor must be instructed to quarantine off campus for 14 days prior to the visit.
• Confirm their consent to notify the University host and cancel the visit should they not feel well, experience COVID–19 symptoms, or learn they may have been exposed to the virus in the past 14 days.
• Insist they wear a cloth face covering at all times while on campus (inside and outside), practice physical distancing of no less than six feet from others at all times, and follow proper handwashing hygiene.
• Confirm they will be notified by the visitor if that person tests positive for COVID–19 or develop symptoms within 14 days following their visit. The visitor must also agree to participate in contact tracing should the need arise.
• Sanitize and disinfect all tables, chairs, door knobs and other items used during the visit.

Hosts must also administer a health screening and temperature check to the visitor upon their arrival. Hosts should request use of a contactless thermometer in advance of the visit. They are available at multiple locations including the DSU Information Desk and the CNH Welcome Desk.

The host must ask the visitor:

• For medical reasons, have you been directed by a Christopher Newport official or a healthcare provider to isolate or quarantine?
• Have you been directed by a health professional to get tested or have you had a positive test result within the last 14 days?
• Have you developed any of these symptoms, that cannot be attributed to another health condition, within the last 24 hours? Fever; cough; difficulty getting enough air, loss of smell or taste, sore throat; muscle aches.

If the answer to any question is “yes” or the temperature is 100.4 or above, the visitor must immediately leave campus. Visitors who will not wear face coverings or comply with other protocols may also be asked to leave.

Requirements regarding Admissions, vendor and family visits and a link to the official visitor policy are available on the For Visitors page. A downloadable version of this information is available below.

We are developing measures to ensure on-campus events (including athletics if possible) take place with everyone's health in mind.

Everyone who visits our campus and all of us who call it home will have new, shared responsibilities. These protocols will promote health in our living, learning and work environments.

The university will provide:

• Supply kits for students, faculty and staff, including a washable face covering, hand sanitizer and thermometer
• Hands-free temperature screening stations at several convenient campus locations
• Facilities cleaned more often and more thoroughly with a focus on high-touch surfaces.
• Cleaning supplies available for faculty and staff

The university will take steps to prevent viral spread, including:

• Requiring students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear face coverings while in classrooms, shared offices and common areas indoors. This requirement may be relaxed as changing conditions and guidance from the Virginia Department of Health allow.
• Limiting special events that bring visitors to campus
• Limiting visitor access to buildings, including Trible Library
• Limiting events featuring shared food
• Using plexiglass barriers and other measures to reduce face-to-face contact in offices

Diamonstein Concert Hall, Peebles Concert Hall, Gaines Theatre, the DSU Ballroom and Freeman 201 will be used for larger classes for the fall 2020 semester.

Moving larger classes into these spaces will free up other classrooms to "upsize" smaller classes, meaning that most faculty will be teaching some classes in different rooms than they typically use.

The academic deans are already working with their chairs and faculty to handle these classes. 

All faculty must be prepared to teach synchronously using Scholar Collaborate. In the cases of exposure and self-quarantine, faculty members must pivot quickly to synchronous online instruction.

Students who must self-quarantine must still be able to access their classes. The university has ordered cameras for classrooms in order to make each live class presentation available to students who cannot be in class.

Classes will be conducted in-person as much as possible.

• Students and faculty should wear face coverings while in indoor common spaces on campus and in classrooms.
• Vulnerable students and faculty will have options for remote learning and teaching.
• Class sizes will be decreased to achieve physical distancing.
• Some classes may be held in nontraditional spaces at irregular times in order to permit de-densification.

The ability to accurately identify faculty, staff and students who are infected with the virus, to isolate them and to trace their close contacts, is critical to reopening campus. The commonwealth and Riverside Health System will be key partners in providing these services and in determining how they should be conducted.

• Faculty, staff and students should have ready access to thermometers, including no-touch temperature taking stations on campus.
• Health providers, including Riverside Health System, will administer diagnostic testing for COVID-19 to symptomatic individuals and those potentially exposed to infected individuals.

To ensure adequate time for thorough daily cleaning and disinfecting measures, the hours of operation for the library will be reduced. The capacity of study rooms will be reduced and distancing practices will be observed.