What you need to know
What you need to know
Friday, Jan. 29, 2021
We are excited to welcome our students back to campus for a rewarding spring semester including the integrated residential life and in-person class experience that is a Bryant hallmark. During the time between our fall and spring semesters, we have worked hard to refine and fortify our layered approach to creating a safe and healthy environment for learning.
We know that if we work together we can keep our community strong. We were able to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on our campus this fall, but it required commitment and dedication from all of us. The challenges we face this spring are difficult because the virus is now more prevalent across the country and in R.I.
To address those challenges with best practices, there are six important things you can do:
  1. Get two negative COVID-19 tests before joining in-person classes
  2. Let us know if you or a member of your household has had COVID-19
  3. Limit social gatherings to your household
  4. Follow proven safety measures including double-layer masks
  5. Protect our secure campus entry and use the Health Checker app daily
  6. Be a game-changer and role model for others
To make testing as accessible as possible, Bryant will provide commuters and students in close proximity with a first test on campus Monday, Feb. 1 - Friday, Feb. 5, within 72 hours of their move-in date. If 72 hours is not possible, please make every effort to be tested close to 72 hours. No appointment is required. Please indicate to officers at the Entry Control Station that you are on campus for testing only. Students will return home to await their test results.
Resident students living at a distance from campus need to be tested at home and receive a negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of move-in date. If 72 hours is not possible due to timing for testing and receipt of results in your community, please make every effort to be tested as close to 72 hours as you can. Results from any type of COVID-19 test offered by your state will be accepted.
All students will be required to get a second test upon campus arrival, Feb. 6-8. Resident students will be required to remain in their room after testing until they receive a negative test result via email.
Weekly Testing Continues for Students, Faculty, and Staff
After spring opening, all students and employees will be tested weekly, more often for some populations at greater risk, throughout the spring semester. Please note the testing schedule: Freshmen, Mondays; Sophomores, Tuesdays; Seniors, Wednesdays; Juniors, Thursdays; graduate student testing any day Monday - Thursday; Fridays open for students who miss a scheduled day.
Let us know if you have had COVID-19?
If you or a member of your household tested positive for COVID-19 during the time between fall and spring semesters, it is important that you notify Bryant’s Contact Tracing Team prior to move-in by emailing contacttracing@bryant.edu. Please verify your positive result by sending a copy of your lab slip (PDF or photo) by email or fax to 401-319-3817. The Contact Tracing Team will help you with the appropriate test schedule and personal setting for Bryant’s Health Checker app.
DOWNLOAD THE HEALTH CHECKER APP
Limit Social Gatherings to Your Household
Students should avoid unnecessary trips off campus and limit social contact to the people they live with. Going shopping, having meals, or participating in social activities with people beyond your household increases risk of exposure. There are safe and creative ways to interact, including virtual games and dinner parties.
Follow Proven Safety Measures
  • Please remember to wear a mask and maintain a minimum of six-foot social distance when you are near people beyond your household. Masks should be two layers, fit snugly without any gaps, and cover your nose, mouth and chin. Many traffic patterns on campus remain one-way to avoid congestion.
  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and use hand sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol.
  • Stay apart from others if you have symptoms, and contact Health Services for a rapid Cepheid test on campus.
  • Report concerns promptly, using the confidential Rave Guardian app.
Protect our Secure Campus Entry
Bryant is fortunate to have a single point of entry and exit, and we will again require daily use of the Health Checker app to monitor symptoms for everyone on campus. We will also secure the campus at 10 p.m. each night, and adopt a modified Visitor Policy with no overnight guests.
Be a Game Changer and a Role Model
Bryant students achieve their full potential and one of the nation’s highest returns on investment. This is due to personal attention from dedicated faculty and staff, small class sizes and a broad array of resources for student success. Students are encouraged to create a personal success plan at the start of the spring semester by taking advantage of the programs provided through Bryant’s academic Centers for Student Success, Amica Center for Career Education, Krupp Library and much more.
We are grateful for everyone’s contributions to the achievements of our fall semester. Bryant was able to address the pandemic through initiatives created by many individuals and groups, and through the leadership of student organizations including Student Government. If you have an idea or suggestion to help keep Bryant Strong this spring, let us know. Send ideas to reopening@bryant.edu.
RI Vaccine Distribution
Many members of our community are eager for information regarding vaccine distribution. On Jan. 28, the RI Dept. of Health announced its preliminary plan and schedule for the safe and effective distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Rhode Island.
Move-In Reminders
To help us begin the spring semester with the health and safety of our community foremost, resident arrivals will be by appointment only on Saturday, Feb. 6, Sunday, Feb. 7, and Monday, Feb. 8, 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. For safety, students are limited to two helpers over the age of 18 to assist with their move-in. All assistants must wear a mask at all times, follow social distancing guidelines, and leave campus by the end of the two hour move-in period.
Students with meal plans for the spring semester will be provided with meals for the period of restricted movement at check-in. Townhouse residents who do not have a meal plan are encouraged to bring grocery items with them and will be required to provide their own meals while restricting their movement around campus until receiving a negative COVID-19 test result. Residents must restrict their movement to their room until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result. Surveillance test results will be emailed to students and typically take approx. 24 hours.
Getting Textbooks and Course Materials
Many students have already placed textbook orders shipping to homes in lieu of in-store campus pick up. The Bryant Bookstore has also expanded digital book offerings that provide students with immediate access to materials. To accommodate students who choose to pick up their books on campus upon arrival, the Bookstore hours for move-in weekend and the first days of classes are: Feb. 6 and 7, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Feb. 8, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Feb. 9-11, 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Employees Returning to Campus
All employees who are approved by their division head to return to campus on a full or partial basis throughout the spring semester must receive a negative COVID-19 test result from the Bryant COVID Surveillance Clinic within seven days prior to their return to work on campus. After receiving departmental approval to return to campus, employees should schedule a COVID-19 testing appointment using the Bryant mobile app, in the link located in the green check or yellow X screen of the Health Checker, or through the Bryant.edu/reopening website. Employees will need to plan to make a special trip to campus (in and out) to get tested during the week prior to return to on-campus work, and while on campus for testing should not visit any additional facilities.



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