BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Starting next week, Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo will welcome students back to campus.
Unlike last year, dorms are once again at full capacity at BGSU and in-person classes will resume as normal. But with the delta variant growing, university officials are being extra cautious when it comes to moving students into the dorms.
The move-in process will be spread out over the course of multiple days. Students got to pick their time frame for when they get to move in.
There are about 100 to 150 students scheduled every hour over the course of five days. Before COVID-19, freshmen were all scheduled to move in over the course of one day.
Officials with BGSU Residence Life said this change gives time for people to spread out to minimize contact, which is something health officials wanted to ensure with the rise of the delta variant.
Despite things being different than usual, those in BGSU Residence Life feel much more confident moving students in this year than they did last year.
"We feel much better this year, and the reason for that is because we've done it before. We know how to keep students safe and isolate and move them if we need to. We also know the cleaning regimen we need to do. We've been through this before," said BGSU Director of Residence Life Josh Lawrie.
Additionally, as people come to campus from all around the country, they will be medically evaluated upon arrival. Before getting out of a car, everyone will be asked basic health screening questions. Depending on those answers, a medical team will determine if testing needs to be done.
"We want to make sure that even if a family member is potentially having symptoms, we don't want them walking around in the residence halls. And so anybody that needs to be tested because of potentially having symptoms that day, a recent COVID-19 exposure, or if they're awaiting test results, we can do a rapid test" said Ben Batey, BGSU Chief Health and Wellness Officer.
Masks will be required in all buildings throughout move-in and to start the school year.