Residential Student Return Information

Although we are not requiring students to remain in their rooms upon arrival to campus, we recommend that students limit their interactions outside of the residential campus during that first week. No outside guests will be allowed in the residence halls and dining from Bartol Hall will be grab and go until Monday, January 24.

In addition, tap access will be required for all Simmons academic buildings until January 24, so please be sure to carry your ID with you. Residential students can interact freely with other residential students and can participate in Welcome Back Week activities and events, which have been developed with physical distancing and health and safety in mind. A link with more information on those events will be provided in Monday’s edition of The Anchor. 

Your return to campus and the first week of remote classes beginning on January 18 will help us achieve several important goals, including:

• Establish a baseline of COVID cases on campus and to resume a regular testing cadence
• Allow students to transition back to the residence halls as safely as possible
• Ensure that students do not experience major course interruptions at the start of the semester

Residential student move-in

As a reminder, residential students should move in as previously scheduled between January 15 and January 17 during check-in hours (9am to 5pm) and complete the following steps prior to move-in:

• Submit your day and intended time of arrival to campus
• Upload proof of the required booster once obtained (picture of vaccination card) at myhealth.simmons.edu if completed (see booster clinic information for other available booster options)
• Complete a COVID-19 test (PCR or home test) within 72 hours of your arrival to campus and upload results via CoVerified by following these instructions (LINK). If you receive a positive result, you must contact the Health Center to make them aware of your status and complete your isolation period at home if your arrival time falls within your isolation window. Do not come to campus during your isolation period.
• Complete required day of arrival test at the University testing site. Please note, the testing site will remain in the Linda K. Paresky Center (LKP), not the Special Functions room, as previously communicated, to accommodate all who need testing in a safe and spacious environment. The LKP is located on the third floor of the Main College Building, closest to Palace Road.

Residents who have completed the above requirements will be granted access to the residence halls by checking in through the Simmons Hall access point. Students must present a receipt from the Simmons COVID-19 testing site confirming they have completed their required day of arrival test when checking into the residence halls.

In extenuating circumstances, where students cannot move-in during the specified testing/check-in hours, they must email Residence Life at [email protected] to request permission to arrive outside of those hours. Students will be expected to go to the testing site when it opens the next day to complete their arrival test.

We recognize that some students may be having difficulty securing a pre-arrival test. In extenuating circumstances where a student has not been able to submit a pre-arrival test, they will be required to test immediately upon arrival and quarantine in their room until their negative test result comes back. Quarantine may last 2-3 days – during which time, students can leave their room to get food from Bartol and use the restroom.

Students who do not move in during the regular move-in period as suggested and who also have not completed a pre-arrival test, will be required to follow the same quarantine guidelines and will need to plan to work individually with their faculty to make up any missed work while awaiting their test results.

Isolating after a positive COVID test

As noted last week, Simmons has updated its isolation policy following a positive COVID-19 test. Residents who live within 200 miles of Simmons must isolate at home. To best accommodate other students who may test positive, we have updated our Isolation Space policy to include two phases, depending on current capacity levels. We’ve included the phases here to inform residential students and their families in advance of any future decisions we will need to make relative to isolation space. The two phases are included below:

We look forward to seeing you back on campus.  If you have any questions please contact [email protected].

Sincerely,

Renique Kersh, Vice President for Student Affairs
Brooke Bernard, Director, Residence Life