Students Can Come Back to Campus This Fall, According to BOT

By: Victor Jorges / News Director

Students can expect to return to campus this fall, as approved by FIU’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday. 

The FIU Repopulating Taskforce created a plan called Panthers Protecting Panthers. This plan includes all the guidelines — federal, state, and local — that FIU must follow in order to repopulate this fall. The team in charge of delineating FIU’s transition to the “new normal” is made up of university administrators, staff, and medical experts.

The plan, which relies on students and staff to act responsibly, points to a combination of reincorporating in-person and hybrid classes, and continuing online, remote classes. 

Everything in the plan seems to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, such as washing or cleaning hands often, common areas being clean more often, and wearing facemasks and practicing social distancing. 

However, there is another element that’s a bit more unconventional. 

All students and staff will have to fill out a questionnaire on P3, an app that FIU developed at the start of their days on campus. The answers will be used to determine whether people have been exposed to COVID-19 since their last time on campus. 

For students living on campus, there will be changes in the move-in process, staff interactions, and shared common spaces. Additionally, 65 independent rooms in University Apartments will stay unoccupied to be used as isolation rooms for infected residential students.

This whole plan, however, still needs to be approved by the Board of Governors at an upcoming meeting.