Residence Hall Updates: First-Year Students – June 19, 2020
We are reaching out to you because you have applied for 2020-2021 on-campus housing and/or have a housing deposit on record. As we work with State officials and others on guidance and plans to repopulate our campus, the Residence Life and Housing staff is working hard to determine how FSU’s residence halls may be best configured to support students who want to live on campus. Assuming we are able to proceed within the Commonwealth’s reopening plan, we do anticipate significantly reduced residence hall capacity to decrease the density of students living in our residential communities. As decisions emerge we will continue to communicate regarding on campus housing.
It is important to recognize that there are health and safety risks associated with interacting with others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, a number of residence hall policies and adaptations are planned to support public health and reduce risks. At this time, these include the required use of face coverings in public areas, a residence hall no guest policy will be in place to limit the number of people entering each hall, elevator occupancy limitations, social distancing guidelines, and closing certain lounge and common areas to concentrate sanitation efforts. We are also planning to reduce the number of residents in areas where students share community bathrooms. In these areas most residents will be assigned to rooms without roommates. Instead of allowing students to self-select, resident students placed in on campus housing will be assigned by Residence Life beginning July 20th. It is important that new students interested in on-campus housing complete the online housing application by June 26th if not already completed.
We know there may be factors which might impact your continued interest in on-campus housing. These may include health considerations and how many of your classes will be meeting in person on campus, hybrid, or remotely. Approximately 30% of courses will be offered fully or partially on-campus during the fall. A preliminary list of these courses will be made available on the FSU website by June 26th. Academic Affairs has prioritized those courses that are better suited to an in-person experience. Students with pre-existing medical conditions placing them at greater risk for COVID19 are encouraged to speak with their doctor(s), assess risks, and make a personal determination about whether living in a shared residential community is in your best interests at this time. If you remain interested in becoming a resident student please provide documentation and advise the Health Center by July 1st.
As a reminder, students who decide to withdraw from on-campus housing out of any COVID-19 related concerns before August 1st will receive a refund of their 2020-2021 housing reservation deposit. Withdrawal from housing may be completed within the myResidenceLife portal or by emailing residencelife@framingham.edu from your FSU student email address.
We understand that this pandemic has disrupted the way our world works including the transition to your university experience. We are committed assisting you in this transition and working to keep our residence halls open to as many students as we can while mitigate public health risks for the campus community.
Sincerely,
Glenn Cochran, Ph.D.