Graduate students will join Rinker Health Science students Oct. 5 in resuming in-person classes, and undergraduate students will follow suit sometime between Oct. 19 and Oct. 26. As Orange County’s government-mandated county risk level has shifted from “widespread” to “substantial” – and is anticipated to enter the “moderate” level by Sept. 29 – universities within the county are now eligible to host indoor lectures at 25% room capacity.

However, not all students and faculty welcome the idea of a return, said Student Government Association President Philip Goodrich. This was also acknowledged by staff who spoke at the “Returning to Campus: What to Expect” virtual town hall Sept. 25. To better reintegrate students to campus life, administration is resuming graduate classes prior to undergraduate, due to the group’s smaller class size and reduced likelihood of virus transmission.

“We chose to go to graduate students first because graduate students don’t take classes at multiple colleges,” said Provost Glenn Pfeiffer at the event. “They’re not necessarily transitioning from one class to another, going from one building to another when they change classes.”

To mitigate busy areas of foot traffic, Vice President of Facilities Management Rick Turner said members of the Chapman community will have designated building and classroom entrance and exit doors, with sanitation items strategically placed to maximize health and safety. The only eateries that will remain open are Starbucks and the Randall Dining Commons, which will solely provide packaged meals. Water filling stations will be open, but water fountains themselves will be locked until further notice.

Face coverings are required across campus and 10 locations will be installed with temperature checks, administered by Food and Drug Administration-approved heat cameras. These locations include the Argyros Forum, Leatherby Libraries, Rinker campus, Kennedy Hall, Marion Knott Studios, Beckman Hall, Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Harold Hutton Sports Center, the Henley Hall Fitness Center and the Randall Dining Commons.

“The locations were chosen because of areas where there might be higher risk,” said Chief of Public Safety Randy Burba. “We are going above and beyond the government’s requirements.”

Members of the Chapman community cannot return to campus without first submitting a LabCorp self-administered COVID-19 test, passing a training module and filling out a daily symptom survey. Once on campus, physical spaces originally used for studying – like the Leatherby Libraries or the Student Union in the Argyros Forum – may remain closed for the duration of the fall semester. However, multiple tents around campus are currently stocked with tables, chairs, raised floors, Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, restrooms and hand washing stations.

Despite efforts to transition to on-campus instruction safely, no students, faculty or staff members are required to return to Chapman during the fall semester. Faculty members dictate if their courses can adapt to a hybrid model, but students who wish to remain remote will be accommodated.

“I don’t want (anyone) to think we’re just trying to force everybody back to campus,” Pfeiffer said. “If there is an outbreak on campus, if there is an uptick … we’d back off on this.”

If a student begins to feel sick or concerned about their health, the Student Health Center is administering COVID-19 tests and is continuing to monitor active cases through the CU Safely Back website. Jacqueline Deats, the director of Student Health Services, said contact tracers will reach out to individuals with the coronavirus to support them on or off campus. However, there is no threshold number of cases that will direct the university to switch back to remote learning.

“If we had a cluster, perhaps, of three individuals who tested positive that were all living in the same space … I would work with the county and we would collaborate on the next best steps,” Deats said.

The adherence to health and safety protocols for in-person instruction have been a major concern amongst students, faculty and staff. Administration has been paying attention to large outbreaks of the coronavirus within other universities across the country. The 18 task forces and combined $17.5 million investment fund Chapman created in the summer aim to reduce any potential threats associated with a return.

“We don’t have the big, 300-student classes that you see at the (University of California) schools, so we have the possibility of coming back and teaching students in person and doing it in a very safe and healthy way,” Pfeiffer said. “We can bring students back to campus safely and we can be a success story … we might end up being a model.”