WESTFIELD – While many colleges and universities remain online for the spring semester, Westfield State University plans to welcome their community back to campus.

Through guidance from the Department of Public Health, CDC, and other reliable sources, Westfield decided to begin classes one week later than originally planned. On Jan. 23, students residing on campus will move into their dorms. Classes begin Jan. 25, and will be strictly remote for the first week. On Feb. 1, classes will revert to their originally planned modality, either in-person, hybrid, or online.

Tricia Oliver, Westfield State’s chief of staff, said, “Based on our safe opening for the fall, we’re keeping a lot of those same parameters but also building upon that.” Some of these improvements include testing populations weekly along with adjusting residential halls to generate single rooms.

“No one has a roommate. In traditional halls, where there would be a main corridor and double rooms, we will have a single occupant in there,” Oliver continued.

In apartments and suites, there may be more than one occupant, but no two people will share a direct bedroom. Oliver claimed the way housing selection worked, in terms of limiting travel between different residence halls, many of the students were able to select their neighbors in blocks and areas of the various halls.

Including graduate and undergraduate, there are 4,226 students enrolled at Westfield. In the fall, about 1,300 of those students lived on campus. This spring, the number will be reduced to 750, as a result of the further densification of on-campus housing.

“We are discouraging residential students from traveling to and from campus,” said Oliver. She added the staff at Westfield State understands that there are commitments such as jobs off site, however the university’s intentions are to possess everything the school and its services has to offer on campus.

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to remain vigilant and partake in the same precautions and practices carried out on campus. This includes wearing masks, proper hygiene and social distancing.

Director of Athletics/COVID-19 Testing Coordinator Dick Lenfest shared that all students, along with faculty and staff who have an on ground presence on campus, will be required to test weekly. Residential students are obligated to show proof of a negative test result upon move- in. Lenfest said students will then be retested by health services for assurance.

“We’re going to be testing between 30 and 35,000 PCR tests for the spring semester. So, in theory, we will be able to get to clusters quicker, which should aid in stopping the spread,” Lenfest stated.

If a student tests positive, health services will contact them directly before moving the individual into the quarantine and isolation period. This process is carried out in a Westfield building off-campus, located near the center of town. Maggie Balch, dean of students, said that each positive individual will be given their own room with a micro-fridge. Meals are delivered to them along with receiving any necessities, such as a paper printed for class. Health services will check in often to monitor their symptoms. Once the isolation period is over and they are deemed healthy, the student may return to campus, Balch added.

Westfield State is in the process of creating a programming calendar to keep students engaged and excited to be on campus. Balch said, “We will have opening events during the first weekend.” Westfield’s faculty and staff are hopeful that it will snow, so students can do outdoor activities such as a snowman building contest. This will allow for people to get out of their residence halls and interact with each other in the “most humanistic way possible,” Balch claimed.

One popular event is the art showcase that takes place every Friday. Oliver said that this has inspired a lot of student artists and musicians to take part in, along with engaging folks who aren’t necessarily artists or musicians. “Faculty, staff and students have been very creative in terms of how we can engage people virtually and on-ground during a global pandemic,” she added.

“In a recreation perspective, we have the two floor fitness center that’s open on campus. We’re abiding by the state fitness protocols,” stated Lenfest. Students who are members of the fitness center are able to sign up for certain time blocks. When finished, a deep clean is completed before the next group can enter.

Lenfest announced that the swimming pool will be able to be utilized starting with one day a week. Depending on how things go, the days of use may increase or be taken back.

Once the weather improves, Westfield plans to do outdoor intramurals, specifically coed softball, which is a big hit on campus, Lenfest shared.

From an intercollegiate athletic perspective, Lenfest claimed, “We’re hoping to start some work with our athletic teams. We will start in practices ... It’s called the resocialization to sport, so they practice in pods to mitigate and distance one another. They’ll be working on drills, fundamentals and trying to get back into shape.”

Spring sports are scheduled to begin Feb. 8, winter sports in March and fall sports will hold their non-traditional season in April. Athletes will be tested weekly and will be required to wear a mask for the duration of practice and all team gatherings.

Lenfest said, “For the students’ sake, we remain hopeful for sports competition against other schools in our conference. Further along in the spring, my hope is that the health situation will get better.”

He went on to say, “We need to be flexible and go one day at a time. Unfortunately, with this pandemic, things change week by week and in some cases day by day.” Lenfest emphasized, “All decisions will first and foremost be made on students’ safety.”

Westfield State has a ‘protect the nest’ pledge, to which everyone has been receptive. Oliver claimed the university has been promoting and reinforcing this pledge throughout the pandemic.

Balch agreed, “Keeping up the awareness campaign is really important. As the virus seems to be changing, we’re making sure we’re on top of that.” However, similar to some other colleges, Westfield has an entire semester already under their belts.

Looking back on the fall semester, Westfield received positive data and information with gathering and identifying trends for testing on campus. Oliver stated, “Our ability to be able to make a greater investment in the testing this spring will really help us.”

Remaining hopeful, communicative and determined for another semester, Oliver wrapped up by claiming, “We’re nimble. We know we need to adjust as necessary, and we have the experience to improve moving forward.”