Campus Reopening Plans

We look forward to having students, faculty and staff back on campus for Fall 2020. We are excited to share our plans for the upcoming semester. Our top priority is to maintain the health and safety of the Capital family.

Returning to campus during the pandemic will necessitate new requirements and behaviors and will impact our interactions with others on campus. This web page has been established to share updates on our plans for returning to campus, as well as updates on COVID-19 and new requirements or guidance that the University receives from state and local health departments.

COVID-19 Updates and Communication

September 18, 2020

Building Access: Bring Your Capital ID!
As a way of limiting exposure and spread of COVID-19, the University is limiting public access and visitors to our campuses. Most buildings will remain on keycard access only, requiring you to swipe your University ID to unlock building doors. Exceptions to this are the Admissions Building, the front doors of Yochum Hall, the south doors of Trinity, and the north doors of the Student Union. Contact Public Safety at 614-236-6666 if your card access is not working.

Daily Symptom Monitoring
All students, faculty, and staff are required to monitor their symptoms daily. You must complete the symptom tracker survey and receive clearance prior to coming to campus for in person classes, work or activities. Even if you are just coming to campus for a short period of time, such as to pick something up, you must conduct a symptom check. Based on your responses to the symptom survey, it will indicate whether you are cleared to be on campus.
Families, alumni, visitors and vendors also will be required to complete the symptom tracker survey before entering a building. Signs have been placed on building doors with the symptom tracker QR code, which will enable them to access the survey.
On Monday, Sept. 21, all students and employees will begin receiving the daily symptom-tracking survey by email. You will have the option to receive the daily survey link via SMS text if you provide your mobile phone number during completion of the initial survey.

COVID Testing
Capital continues to provide baseline diagnostic COVID testing to all students living in University housing and will conduct weekly surveillance testing to monitor for COVID-19 in random samples of asymptomatic students, faculty, and staff beginning the week of Sept. 28. 

We are developing a COVID-19 dashboard to provide ongoing updates of COVID cases to the University community. We anticipate it being ready next week, and in the meantime wanted to provide an update on the baseline test results for residential students as of today: 

On-Campus Testing Results
Test Date: Aug. 22
Total Tests 120; Positive Results 1; Negative Results 119; Percent Positive 0.83

Test Date: Sept. 7
Total Tests 80; Positive Results 1; Negative Results 79; Percent Positive 1.25

Test Date: Sept. 12 & 13
Total Tests 308; Positive Results 2; Inconclusive 1; Negative Results 305; Percent Positive 0.65

Current Status of Cases
Active Cases 2; Recovered Cases 2 

If you have any questions about the University’s testing program, please contact us at COVIDResponse@capital.edu.

Campus Health and Safety Guidelines

The Center for Health and Wellness provides guidelines to protect student and employee health during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluates protocols for testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, and student physical and mental health services. The guide, Phased Reopening Plan, provides comprehensive details.

Health and Wellness Testing

Monitoring and managing COVID-19 at the University is essential to creating a safe and healthy environment for our entire university community. Capital has developed a comprehensive health strategy, which utilizes diagnostic and surveillance testing, daily monitoring of symptoms, quarantine and isolation protocols, and contact tracing of close contacts for positive cases.

Review the Health and Wellness Testing Policy (PDF) - Updated 9/1/20

Academic Plans

Capital University is focused on delivering a superior student experience while maintaining the health and safety of our community. Because these two priorities cannot be separated, all classes at the Law School, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and Bexley campus will begin as scheduled August 24, but will be delivered remotely – fully online – until at least September 21.

• Fall classes begin on Monday, August 24, 2020. However, courses will be delivered remotely until at least September 21.
• Capital will continue to offer student support services and co-curricular experiences for students using a combination of in-person and remote activities. You can reach out to any resource on campus for support. Information can be found in the Student Resource Guide.
• We plan a phased move-in for students living in the residence halls beginning September 11. Students who rely on the University as their primary residence may continue to do so. In-person classes are scheduled to begin no sooner than September 21. Students will also have the option to construct a fully remote semester.  

For the full details regarding plans for the fall semester, please refer to the Phased Reopening Plan (PDF). The document was developed following guidance from state and local health authorities and recommendations from the University’s emergency response team.

If you have general questions about the health and safety issues related to COVID-19 and the University, we encourage you to email us at healthinfo@capital.edu. For questions about specific issues, contact:

• Academic Advising – advising@capital.edu or 614-236-6112
• Academic Success – academicsuccess@capital.edu or 614-236-6327
• Residential and Commuter Life – residencelife@capital.edu or commuterlife@capital.edu
• Center for Health and Wellness – chw@capital.edu or 614-236-6114
• Disability Services – disabilityservices@capital.edu or 614-236-6611
• Financial Aid – finaid@capital.edu or 614-236-6511
• Student Success – success@capital.edu or 614-236-6871

Student Life

 Housing

We have created a Resource Guide for Ensuring a Safe and Healthy Return to Campus Living (PDF). This document outlines the tenants of our plan to return to life in University housing. Those pieces are outlined below:

• Traditional residence halls will be occupied with decreased density.
• Neighborhood Housing (to include College Avenue Residence Hall) will remain at planned occupancy.
• Students who are not yet ready to return to campus living can complete the Housing Release Request form located at: https://capital.erezlife.com.
  • This will allow students to continue their coursework remotely, from their home address. (Please note, any exceptions to policy will only be made for Fall 2020, and will not include release from housing to seek local rental for those who do not meet our requirements for release.) 
   
• A limited number of rooms in traditional residence halls will be made available for students to live with roommates. Students wishing to live with a roommate should complete the “Request a Double” form at https://capital.erezlife.com.
• Room rates will be adjusted to ensure that no students will be penalized through the reassignment process. Rates can be found online: https://www.capital.edu/room-and-board-rates/.
• A detailed cleaning and disinfection plan has been developed for both prior to student move-in and during the academic year.
• Residential policy will be adjusted to comply with CDC and other recommendations.
• We plan a phased move-in for students living in the residence halls beginning September 11. Students who rely on the University as their primary residence may continue to do so. In-person classes are scheduled to begin no sooner than September 21. Students will also have the option to construct a fully remote semester. 
• For students planning to live on campus this fall, we will share information soon about refunding a prorated portion of your housing and room and board costs.
  
   

Dining

As we begin to cautiously reopen our dining facilities during these unprecedented times, we want to let you know what is being done to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, guests and dining services team members.

Safety and sanitation have always been a hallmark of our dining services; however, in the wake of this global pandemic, we recognize that it has never been more critical for us to rise to the occasion and challenge ourselves as we meet the uncertainty and evolving demands of this "new normal." We are happy to partner with our dining services provider, Aladdin, to meet and exceed all federal, state and local health and safety requirements. To that end, we are:

• Creating additional space in the Main Dining Room and One Main Café by relocating and removing some tables and chairs
• Installing barriers between booths
• Converting all self-service stations to served (with the exception of drink stations, which are allowed by regulation to be self-service)
• Requiring all dining services team members to wear masks and gloves and be trained in appropriate sanitary measures
• Having team members provide flatware, plates and cups to customers
• Providing salt, pepper and condiments in individual packets
• Serving a full, rotating menu, with soft-serve ice cream being the only item to not be available
• Providing to-go containers for those choosing to eat elsewhere
• Continuing to offer the allergen-friendly kitchen
• Installing floor signs to provide guidance for physical distancing
• Using a separate entrance and exit in the Main Dining Room to reduce congestion
• Sanitizing tables, chairs and counters more frequently
• Installing Plexiglas barriers at points-of-sale

Any questions about Dining Services should be directed to liz.hernandez@aladdinfood.com.

Athletics

The OAC and its President’s Council has voted to postpone all fall sport competition until after January 1, 2021. This impacts football, volleyball, cross country, soccer, tennis, golf and basketball. Schedules are currently being constructed for fall sports to take place simultaneously with regularly-scheduled spring sports. 

» OAC Announces Restructuring of 2020-21 Athletic Season (full story)

All athletes will not be participating in any team-related activities for 14 days upon their arrival at campus. After the 14 day period there will be three phases of resocialization in Athletics using population density as a criterion. The phases are outlined below:

• Avoid socializing in groups of more than 10 people
• Close common areas where people are likely to congregate and interact
• Vulnerable student-athletes, athletic health care providers, coaches and athletics personnel
• Should continue to shelter in place – vulnerable population includes individuals with serious underlying conditions such
• As chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and immune-compromised conditions
• No university sponsored travel

• Groups may increase to 50 people
• Vulnerable individuals should continue to shelter in place
• Weight room may open with physical distancing and sanitization protocols
• Locker rooms will remain closed at this time
• No university sponsored travel

• Re-evaluate protocol based on state government recommendations – Resume full practice activities without group size restrictions
• Vulnerable individuals can resume in-person interactions, but with distancing
• Weight room and locker rooms will be open, but with proper physical distancing and sanitization
• University sponsored travel may resume with proper physical distancing

For the full guidelines, including the Infectious Disease Transmission Mitigation Protocol, please review the Guidelines for Resocialization here.

TRAINING
The NCAA has passed temporary legislation that allows for 114 days of permissible contact between student-athletes and their team’s coaching staff in preparation for the Spring 2021 season. Athletes are permitted to have unlimited permissible contact with Athletics’ strength and conditioning staff. All training must coincide with NCAA, Franklin County and Capital University COVID-19 health standards.

FAQs
Capital FAQ
OAC FAQ

Working on Campus

Our plans to reopen all three campuses and return to in-person classroom learning where possible continue to evolve, but we felt it was important to share the Return to the Workplace Plan (PDF) at this time so you have the new safety precautions and protocols for faculty, staff and students.

These documents were developed following guidance from state and local health authorities and recommendations from the University’s emergency response team, and include information about: 

• Shared responsibilities for keeping every member of the Capital community safe, such as physical distancing, hand hygiene, appropriate face coverings, and symptoms tracking.
• Phased steps for reopening.
• Phased steps for the return of students and employees, including staffing options.
• Classrooms and other spaces, including: limited density in indoor areas; limited elevator capacity; control of the flow of traffic into and inside buildings, and directional stairways; and enhanced facility cleaning protocols.
• Continued use of virtual collaboration tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx and Slack.
• University travel.

The Return to the Workplace Plan will guide us as we finalize staffing for the fall semester.  After reviewing that document, if you believe you need to request a modification for your return to the workplace, please do so as soon as possible.  For faculty teaching fall semester, we ask that you make your requests as soon as possible.  Modifications can be requested by filing a COVID-19 Request for Workplace Modification form.

Facilities Management COVID-19 Readiness Plan 

Capital University’s Office of Facilities Management, in collaboration with WFF Facility Services, has created a detailed Campus Facilities Readiness Plan to integrate the realities of fluctuating space usage and attendance alongside the pressing needs for an enhanced cleaning and overall facilities approach. We will work as a team to present the clearest path forward to address the concerns of faculty, staff, students, alumni, visitors and families, creating safe environments that support Capital’s living and learning communities. Safety requirements and community perception require increased attention to facilities services. By integrating cleaning and building operations tasks, each campus can mitigate the dangers of COVID-19. Reducing the threat while enhancing community wellbeing is the goal of Capital University’s Office of Facilities Management.

We have created a planning document to leverage our industry experience, changing regulations and shared best practices. The following steps represent our path forward to respond and adapt to the challenges of COVID-19.

• Level 1- Response Services refers to when there is possible COVID-19 exposure and/or proactive planning stage.
• Level 2- Response Services refer to when there is a probable COVID-19 contamination while testing occurs or during an outbreak at another section of campus
• Level 3- Response Services refer to when there is a confirmed contamination 

Read the full details of our readiness plan

University Events

Virtual events should continue to be conducted when feasible as the health and safety of our community remain our top priority.  If an event will take place in person, appropriate measures, such as physical distancing, must be utilized.  Events should include registration or attendee lists that include participant contact information to facilitate contact tracing if needed.

Events may be held at a limited number of venues, provided the events comply with building reopening requirements and all rules mandated by the University, and state and local governments. All events must adhere to these requirements as a basis for minimal acceptable practices.

Visitor Policy

Welcome to Capital University. We are looking forward to seeing you soon. The health and safety of our University community and our visitors are our top priority during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As we approach the reopening of our campuses, we have outlined the safety and precautionary measures we are taking. As we all know, this has been, and will continue to be, a rapidly changing situation. Our guidelines today are based on current conditions, but we may need to alter them as the situation and/or guidance from experts changes.

VISITOR SAFETY MEASURES

Currently Capital is open to employees and essential visitors, such as contractors, and admissions and athletic recruiting visits. (Rules for coming to campus for athletic events will follow separate athletic policies, which are being developed as we prepare for fall sports.)

We ask that you follow our safety guidelines so that we may protect your health and that of our faculty, staff and students. Those guidelines include:

• Everyone is required to wear a face covering whenever you are inside buildings, when entering and exiting buildings, and whenever you are in the presence of others and cannot properly maintain adequate physical distancing (i.e., at least six feet).
• Please maintain physical distance from others while you are on campus. We have spaced out some furniture, meeting rooms and open spaces, marked seating and have added markings in areas where individuals may be waiting for services.
• We ask that you do not come to campus if you are exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, sore throat, loss of taste/smell).
• Hand sanitizer is available at the entrances to every building for your use.

ADMISSIONS AND ATHLETIC RECRUITING VISITS

• If you are visiting campus for an admissions or athletics recruiting visit, please only bring two guests (for a maximum of 3 people).
• To provide a safe visit experience for you and our staff, we kindly ask that when you enter the Admission Center, if you have more than one in your party, please ask guests to wait in the lobby as you, the student, check in with the Admissions Office.

RESIDENCE HALLS

• When the residence halls reopen, only individuals living in each hall will be permitted in that hall.
• No more than 2 non-students will be permitted to assist residential students at move-in or move-out.

UNIVERSITY SAFETY MEASURES

We would also like to make you aware of additional safety measures we have implemented on our University campuses:

• Additional daily cleanings and deep cleanings of buildings are being done by our housekeeping service.
• Plexiglass shields have been installed for front office employees.
• We will be adding directional markings for certain areas on campus to help with one-way traffic flow.
• COVID-19 safety and informational training will be provided for all employees and students.
• Employees have been asked to monitor their health and to not report to work if they are exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, fever, chills, sore throat, loss of taste/smell).

Thank you for your help in making our return to campus safe and comfortable. Please let us know if you have any concerns about visiting our campus. We want to be respectful and considerate of our visitors while safeguarding the health of our community.

VIRTUAL CONNECTION TO CAPITAL

When you are not able to come to campus or when access to campus is limited, our virtual campus is still available! We can be reached by phone and email.

Bexley campus directory
Seminary directory
Law School directory

Many student services contacts are found here: https://www.capital.edu/current-students/

Virtual admission visits are scheduled here: https://www.capital.edu/admission/schedule-a-visit/

We are ready to respond to questions, process requests and applications, and provide support for existing and future students. Please stay in touch.