WACO, Texas — The estimated five thousand Baylor students that will live in on-campus residents halls, will begin moving in on August 15.
Baylor Vice President Jason Cook said although students will still have roommates, many aspects of living on campus has changed.
"We had to come up with a way to limit the density inside residence halls," Cook said. "Rooms that triples are now just doubles."
Students will not be able to have guests stay overnight and guests during normal hours must be approved by both the building administration and the roommate.
Along with these living guidelines, Baylor will also require everyone who lives or works on campus to be tested for the virus.
"We are requiring all students, all staff and faculty to get a COVID-19 test before returning to campus for the fall semester," Cook said. "Not many universities across the country are doing that."
Cook said around 25% of the classes this fall are solely online, the rest are either traditional in-person or a hybrid of both.
With 18 thousand students enrolled in the semester, the number of those who opt to stay home and learn remotely is fairly low.
"Most students told us they want to be on the campus of Baylor," said Cook. "So we are leaning more toward in-person courses, but we have had about 1,400 students request to have a completely online schedule for the fall."
With capacity limits inside dining halls and lounge areas, the university installed 16 high-quality tents throughout the campus, which adds 45,000 square feet of added space for students to use.
"They have sides, they have doors, they have Wi-Fi, they have electricity," Cook said. "Its a place where they can spread out and study or have student organization meetings."
Cook also mentioned that if a student does contract COVID-19 there are designated residence halls across campus for quarantine purposes.
Masks must also be worn inside all buildings on campus, except when students are in their specific dorm rooms.
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