Captains Relaunch

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

• common indoor areas, including classrooms
• outside on the Great Lawn and Trible Plaza at all times and throughout campus when it is difficult to maintain 6’ of distance from others
• campus dining locations, except when eating and 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, 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 that include:

• Requiring students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear face coverings while in common areas indoors and outdoors on the Great Lawn and Trible Plaza at all times and throughout campus where physical distancing cannot be achieved. 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

Students who purchase meal plans will have additional dining options this fall. We are also introducing expanded dining retail locations.

On campus, we've created two new "pop-up" dining locations, one in the Peebles Theatre lobby and one in the concessions area in the Freeman Center. You can use your meal plan at both locations.

Several nearby locations will also provide new opportunities to students who have Dining Dollars available as part of their meal plans. These locations will also accept Captains Cash.

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

• Students and faculty should wear face coverings while in classrooms.
• Vulnerable students and faculty may seek options for remote learning and teaching.
• Class sizes will be decreased to achieve physical distancing of at least 6 feet.
• Some classes may be held in nontraditional spaces at irregular times in order to permit de-densification.
• We will use safety warning tape and other measures to facilitate distancing in classrooms, study rooms and common spaces, including in Trible Library and David Student Union.

In an Aug. 13 email, Provost Dave Doughty further outlined how teaching and learning will be conducted this fall:

From Provost Doughty emailed to students, parents, faculty and staff

Dear Captains,

As you make decisions about returning to campus and consider adjustments to your Fall 2020 class schedule, I would like to update you on developments and definitions that could guide your thinking. I also want to point you to the useful and regularly updated Schedule of Classes.

As of this writing, we expect that about 67% of our courses will be taught in-person. The experience will be similar to what you’ve previously enjoyed within the limits imposed by face coverings and physical distancing in learning spaces.

The remainder of our courses, including those with too many students to permit adequate physical distancing, will be delivered in a synchronous online format. In other words, students will participate in the class at the scheduled time and the format will allow interaction between the learner and the instructor.

Students living on or commuting to campus will be expected to attend all classes in the format designated on the Schedule of Classes. All other students should register for as many online classes as possible (section numbers that are taught remotely begin with the letter, ‘O’ in the Schedule of Classes). The Office of the Registrar will work closely with students who cannot attend classes in person, in order to keep them on a path to graduation.

Live streaming is intended for students who are sick, in quarantine, in isolation or unable to be on campus because of documented risks associated with COVID–19, as defined by the ADA and CDC. Most courses can be live streamed under these circumstances. Live streaming does not allow for interaction, is not recorded for later viewing, and the professor’s focus will be on the students physically in class, and therefore is not suitable for most courses for an entire semester.

Those of you not living on or commuting to campus who need classes for degree progress that are not available online should consult with the Office of the Registrar to determine if a needed course may be available via live stream for the entire semester.

As we have all learned, the virus is no friend to definitive planning. I ask you to be flexible and understand we are doing all we can to provide the best possible teaching and learning experience for everyone.

Dr. Dave Doughty
Provost

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.