Journey Back – Residence Halls & Dining
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Students will be required to wear a mask at all times in their residence hall with one exception: Residence Life is adopting a “floor is family” philosophy and, as such, is not requiring mask-wearing among residents on the same floor. During open hours and in public or shared lobbies, however, all Grace students are required to wear face coverings. This policy could change in the future, depending on CDC guidelines, guidelines from the State of Indiana, and Kosciusko County.
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In order to ensure the safety of the residence hall community, after move-in day, guests outside the Grace community are not permitted to visit the residence halls. Visitation from Grace students from other floors and co-ed visitation will be limited to open hours on Fridays and Saturdays 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM. During open hours, all students must wear masks and are encouraged to maintain a 6 ft social distance.
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We strongly encourage Grace students to limit their travel away from campus this semester, especially to states which are currently most impacted by COVID – 19. Limiting travel away from campus and away from the Winona Lake/Warsaw area is one way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. If students desire to travel overnight, we require each resident to fill out an online Overnight Emergency Form and indicate where they plan to travel and how to contact them. This form is not a permission form but is vital for potential contract tracing and contacting students in case of emergencies. If a student travels to a highly affected area, visits another college campus, or suspects that he or she may have been in direct contact with a person with COVID-19, they may be required to quarantine for up to two weeks after returning to campus.
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Our custodial crew will be cleaning/disinfecting every lobby space, door handle, hallway, and community bathrooms every day. Additionally, disinfecting spray/supplies will be available by the RA on each floor if students would like to disinfect spaces they are using in between cleanings.
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Eating meals together creates a lot of great memories, so the Sodexo team, our food service provider, has spent a lot of time educating themselves on the guidelines from the CDC and local health department, and has worked with many campus offices to ensure that you will still get delicious, nutritious food, and a top-notch dining experience. But a few things will look a little different, such as:
- Greater physical distancing in all dining locations.
- Plexi-glass barriers on tables so students can eat together in small groups when masks cannot be worn.
- Take-out and Grab-and-Go options are now offered as alternatives to eating in the dining hall
- The removal of self-service stations, such as the salad bar, ice cream machine, and silverware dispensers. Students’ favorite foods will still be available, but they will be served by campus dining staff.
- Dining services will be limited to current students on a meal plan, prospective students, and recruits. For the fall semester, it will not be open to the public or employees who are not meeting with prospective students.
- Face coverings must be worn when standing in line, choosing food from the serving area, and walking in the dining room. Masks may be removed when seated and eating in the dining hall.
- Dining tents will be available outside Alpha Dining and Westminster Hall for students to eat take-out and grab-and-go meals outdoors.
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In addition to continuing their regular safe food handling practices, dining staff will continually sanitize all service areas and dining surfaces, and all dining staff will be wearing masks.
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All our campus dining options will remain open this fall, including Alpha Dining, SubConnection, and Westy Grille, as well as Jazzman’s Cafe for coffee and smoothies. All dining options will follow physical distancing guidelines.