In an email sent to USD staff and faculty, the university is following CDC recommendations and asking students who feel comfortable with remote learning to quarantine and learn remotely for the remainder of the semester. A similar email was sent to students.
The email said that they feel confident that the classrooms are safe for students to continue attending class, but with rising cases nationally and across South Dakota, USD is asking students to self-quarantine for 10 days before returning home.
“If students feel they can be successful in online learning, we are asking them to attend classes remotely and use this time to self-quarantine before returning home for break,” the email obtained by The Volante said. “While we are confident that our classrooms are safe places, we want to facilitate students remaining at home or in their dorm rooms as much as possible.”
The email also says that if classes require a face-to-face class, professors need to inform their students immediately.
Other changes being made across campus include suspending dine-in operations in the MUC. All food will be for take-out only. Any indoor events scheduled on campus that are face-to-face without assigned social distancing measures have been postponed until further notice.
The Wellness Center has moved to Phase 1 operation plans. Group fitness, personal training, indoor intramurals, functional training room, climbing wall and racquetball courts are all unavailable until further notice.
USD has paused practices for most USD athletics as well. Men’s and women’s basketball and swimming and diving will continue practice with their season’s set to begin within the next month. Other teams may still practice depending on the number of cases on the team.
USD has seen an uptick in cases on campus. As of Nov. 13, there are 82 cases on campus, the highest total since Sept. 8.
