(Oxford, OH) - Miami University says it will resume in-person and hybrid classes on campus beginning Monday, Sept. 21 as planned.
Classes have been offered entirely online since August 17.
Students who live on campus will continue their phased move-in during the week of Sept. 14.
“This decision was made after many lengthy discussions and consultation with public health experts,” said Miami University President Gregory Crawford.
Miami University also announced today that it will be requiring students to be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival to campus, before moving into their residence halls.
In addition to diagnostic testing of students who are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19, the university also conducts wide-net and surveillance testing. This includes testing a random sampling of students who moved to the Oxford area as well as those who may have had contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. Additionally, the university partnered closely with Butler County General Health District to track positive test results for every Miami University student tested – not just those who had a test in the university’s Student Health Center. Throughout the semester, surveillance and wide-net testing will continue.
All students, faculty, staff, and guests at the university are required to wear a face covering when indoors or outside where social distancing is not possible. The dining halls will provide to-go options with limited seating for socially distanced dining. Additionally, activities outside of the classroom with more than 10 participants will be canceled or moved to an online/virtual format.
Under normal circumstances, half of Miami University undergraduate students live in the residence halls. To further reduce density on campus, residence hall occupancy has been reduced to approximately 60% of regular capacity to allow for a greater number of single-occupancy rooms. Overall campus density will be significantly less than normal with nearly half of classes continuing to be delivered online/remotely and many employees continuing to work from home.