How Delaware State University stays up to date in their Covid protocols for student housing

By Raven Quander

With Covid changing on a daily basis, the Delaware State Department of Residential Housing and Education (DHRE) has learned to quickly adapt to new procedures and protocols to maintain Covid safety tactics. After it was announced by President Tony Allen that this semester would start out virtually for the first two weeks, the Housing Department immediately started to re-plan its schedule for this year, which included the return of housing staff members as well as move-in dates for returning residents. These new plans, however, do rely heavily on the monitored compliance of student vaccination, boosters, and Covid testing.

The most recent update in Delaware State policy and monitored compliance for students planning to live on-campus, requires students to upload their vaccination and booster information into a submission portal, submit a negative PCR Covid test result no more than five days prior to their scheduled move-in date, and take another test upon their entry onto campus. Each of these steps allows the DHRE department to remain conscious of those permitted to be on campus and those who are not.

“We have a great leadership team that updates us on the newest policy and procedures and forwards us any information that they get as soon as possible. I think we have to adjust to what the new normal looks like, which includes getting people into the culture of masking up, wearing their mask, and complying with things ordered by the university” attributes Resident Director Aishona Jackson.

“It (covid protocols) does put a wedge in what our department is all about— building a community— but we’ve been able to be more creative and use virtual platforms to still host events for students. While our department strives to involve students and create community, we also want to make sure everyone is safe” states Senior Resident Assistant Ebube Maduka-Ugwu.

With all of the great pre-planning put together by the Department of Residential Housing and Education, DSU was able to pull off a very successful and safe move in this past week.