Return to Campus Guidelines
The State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Council of Independent Colleges provided institutions with significant guidance for a phased return to on-campus operations being implemented over the course of the summer. Colleges and universities are empowered to draft their own plans that must comply with regulations at the local, state, and national agency levels. These regulations are in place to safeguard the health of all employees and students. Please read the information below carefully as some policies and procedures have changed for efficiency and safety purposes.
All students must submit the following items to Student Health Services prior to arriving on campus. The items below can be sent via email at healthservices@bridgeport.edu or fax at 203-576-4715.
- Health records
- All residential students from Connecticut must have a negative test result as close to the time of arrival on campus as possible, preferably within 72 hours but no more than 14 days in advance of moving into their residence hall room. Testing is not required, but is recommended, for Connecticut commuter students living at home or off campus.
- All out-of-state students, regardless of whether they live on campus or off campus, must have a negative test result as close to the time of arrival on campus as possible. The test must be administered preferably within 72 hours but no more than 14 days in advance of moving into their residential hall room or, for non-residential students, immediately before classes begin.
The following documents must be reviewed and/or completed by all before returning to campus. All forms can be found on the MyUB Portal under "Covid-19 Return to Campus Documents." We ask that you to follow the guidelines provided to ensure the health of your safety and others on campus.
- COVID-19 Safety Training - Review one time.
- COVID-19 Safety Training Quiz - Complete one time.
- UB COVID-19 Student Return to Campus Self-Certification - Complete upon initial return to campus.
- Daily Health Assessment - Complete daily on LiveSafe by selecting the grey Health Verification Tool card. See instructions on how to download LiveSafe. If your phone does not support it, you can access the form on the portal.
- Student Contact Information Sheet - Complete daily.
Students are encouraged to bring a weekend bag/carryon luggage to prepare an emergency kit to travel with in the event they are exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Review the Travel Advisory for Visitors to Connecticut for more information.
There are two time frames to move in. Students will have to sign up for an appointment. All residential students will be emailed a date and time that is assigned randomly to log into their housing portal to make an appointment for their appropriate move-in day.
- All students arriving from out of state should be prepared to quarantine at home or in their residence hall for 14 days after arriving to the state but prior to attending classes. Any student awaiting test results, must quarantine until results are available.
- Students who live in or are traveling to one of the high risk states listed here, or any international student traveling back into the states, has the ability to move-in as early as Thursday, August 13, 2020, through Sunday, August 16, 2020. UB uses students' official home address registered with the University, so students will need to identify themselves to the Office of Housing and Residential Life if their permanent home address is not updated.
- Residential students from Connecticut, and students who are NOT in a high risk state, will have the ability to move-in Friday, August 21, 2020 through Wednesday, August 26, 2020. These students will move in and stay, not drop off belongings as previously planned.
Opening plans for the academic year at UB will include slight modifications to the regular semester schedule for students.
- Regular semester courses – online, hybrid, and in-class – for Fall will begin on Thursday, August 27. The change will apply forward to dates for change-of-schedule, pass/fail election, and course-drop deadlines for regular semester students.
- For health safety reasons, in order to minimize off-campus/back-to-campus travel, there will be no two-day, mid-semester October break for Fall 2020 and students will not need to return to campus after the Thanksgiving recess, which begins Wednesday, November 25. All regular semester courses will continue online, through distance-learning technology, through the last day of class, December 4. Final Examination week, December 7-11, will also be conducted online.
Exceptions to Adjusted Schedule
- Graduate Health Sciences courses will begin as scheduled, on August 17.
- FALL Term I, Accelerated (7-week) courses – online or in-class – will begin as scheduled on August 24. FALL Term II, Accelerated courses will begin as scheduled on October 19.
- Faculty Handbook schedules for committee and annual review work will assume an August 24 start to the semester as scheduled.
- Spring semester make-up labs for health sciences will occur in July/Aug.
- Health science students participating in off-campus clinic rotations may arrange to continue after the Thanksgiving break.
- UB Clinics will continue operations after the Thanksgiving break.
All students and employees will participate in a required training session that includes information about COVID-19, your responsibilities to prevent its spread, and UB’s policies and procedures that were put in place to respond to the pandemic. Students, faculty, and staff members must complete the training session prior to their return to fall 2020 on-campus operations.
In order to comply with the six foot distancing, new occupancy standards will be created for student housing, classrooms, and meeting spaces on campus. Use of UB spaces will require adherence to the new occupancy limits.
Contact tracing is critical to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to members of the UB community. All students must submit a daily health assessment form via LiveSafe.
All UB employees and students are required to wear masks inside all campus buildings, except in private offices and research labs when others are not present. UB will provide two cloth face coverings.
The food service team at Sodexo is taking a cautious, measured approach that gives students the confidence to enjoy meals on campus, as well as the flexibility to choose the dining options that make them feel most comfortable.
The world will not return to normal overnight, and neither will this campus. Rather, we will move in steps toward a “new normal” that safeguards health while allowing campus activities to resume. Our phased approach enables dining teams to proactively support each level of this transition with appropriate tools and techniques that strictly follow local, state, and federal guidelines.
Personal Protective Equipment
Employees will wear masks and gloves.
Hand Washing
Staff will continue to wash hands frequently.
Team Member Health
Employees will regularly report on their health, including temperature checks.
Food Safety
Self-service options will be eliminated.
Sanitizing and Disinfecting
High-touch surfaces will be cleaned frequently with professional-grade products.
Social Distancing Measures
When dining rooms are open, they will have limited seating capacity, updated configurations, and floor markers to encourage social distancing.
Technology
Touchless entryways and cashless payments will limit contact between dining staff and students.
Carryout and Prepackaged Options
Expanded options for carryout orders where feasible.
We know how difficult the last few months have been, and we recognize that students and parents may have reservations about dining outside the home. We want to assure you that the campus dining team is taking every precaution to deliver safe, high-quality food in a carefully controlled environment. Safeguarding the health and well-being of every member of the campus community is our highest priority.
Although there may be challenges ahead as the world recovers, we are optimistic that together we can rise to these challenges. Driven by a confident resolve, Sodexo’s careful and systematic approach will keep students, faculty, and staff who dine on campus safe and healthy.
All UB employees and students are expected to uphold the new policies, procedures, and standards that ensure the health and safety of the community. Departmental and program administers will monitor employee compliance and will be enforced by Human Resources. New policies related to students will be added to the Key to UB. The Division of Student Affairs is responsible for ensuring students’ compliance with safety policies and protocol.
What to Do If You Become Ill
If you experience fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, stay home and contact a healthcare provider for guidance—do not go to a healthcare facility before you have called your doctor or a hospital emergency room for instructions.
- We encourage students who are concerned that they may have had close contact with an ill person who is experiencing flu-like symptoms to call UB Student Health Services at (203) 576-4712, or come into the Health Sciences Center to see someone in Student Health Services from 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday. When Health Services is closed, students should contact AMR through Campus Security at 203-576-4913.
CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund - Student Aid
The CARES Act has allocated funds to higher education institutions for emergency relief grants to be used for student aid to eligible students. The US Department of Education is administering the funds and has apportioned $1,635,969 to the University of Bridgeport to be used solely for this purpose.
From May 15 - June 30, 2020, a total of $1,636,515.91 (including accrued interest) in CARES Act emergency financial aid grants was distributed to eligible UB students.
