Keeping Students Safe

Keeping Students Safe: Life on Campus, One Year Later

By Angela Schmiede, Ph.D., Vice President for Student Success and Chair, Pandemic Planning Team

March 16, 2021, marked one year since the order for the Bay Area to shelter-in-place. Little did we know, then, that the three-week order would stretch into months. Menlo’s Pandemic Planning Team has learned much during this time about the novel coronavirus and how to prevent its spread over the past year, which has allowed us to safely reopen campus for close to 250 residential students this spring. To date, we have had only two positive Covid-19 tests among our residents since their return to campus on January 9, 2021. Our success at maintaining a relatively virus-free campus is the result of a community-wide planning and implementation effort: We have worked closely with a public health expert to develop our Testing, Tracing, and Quarantine (TTQ) Plan, which has been managed effectively by Covid-19 Coordinator and Head Athletic Trainer, Rob Dalnoki. All students living on campus quarantined and were tested upon arrival. On-campus students are required to participate in our antigen testing program twice a week, which has been critical to identifying and preventing the spread of the virus. Student-athletes live and train in “pods” by athletic teams, which allows them to engage with their teammates with fewer restrictions. Students have adapted to take-out dining services and we have been fortunate to have nice weather most of the time to allow for outdoor dining. Our Student Affairs team–Dean La’Tonya Rease Miles, Director of Student Engagement Carmen Stockberger, and Director of Housing and Residence Life Taylor Henkel–has been instrumental in creating opportunities for engagement and addressing student needs during a time when students require additional support. In addition, Taylor Henkel has implemented a Covid-19 Ambassador program, through which trained students and staff promote campus safety by educating students about Covid-19 safety protocols. Our success at navigating the pandemic is due in large part to the commitment that each of our community members has demonstrated in following Covid-19 protocols. The pandemic has highlighted the close-knit community that is the hallmark of Menlo College.