Reunite Ripon: Our Plan for Spring Semester
Dear Ripon College community,
We are looking forward to the opening of Ripon College’s spring 2021 semester, as scheduled, Monday, Jan. 25. We begin the new semester with confidence, knowing that our community took appropriate steps and precautions during the fall semester to limit the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Our success during the spring semester will depend again on the commitment and care of the entire community to keeping ourselves and each other safe.
This message, along with links to the new Ripon Spring Pledge and FAQs about the start of the semester, should serve as a helpful guide as we begin the process of safely returning to campus.
Ripon College will be in session during the spring semester and will operate under the same precautionary guidelines that were in place during the fall. Some classes will be in person, others will be entirely online or there will be a combination of the two. In-person extra-curricular events, including athletics, will remain limited according to College policies. Social distancing, masking and sanitary guidelines will continue to be critical to our ability to remain open during the spring semester and is required of all students and employees.
Because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin and across the country in recent weeks, students in residence, as well as faculty and staff who plan to work on campus, will be required to have a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) COVID test before being allowed to begin the spring semester. The College will provide ample opportunities in the days leading up to the start of the semester for students and employees to get tested, free of charge. The College also will require students and employees to get tested approximately once a month during the spring semester as part of the institution’s surveillance testing program. The College will provide these tests free of charge.
Failure to sign the new Ripon Spring Pledge or take a College-sponsored COVID test prior to the start of the spring semester or in the required monthly event will result in the blocking of One Card access and/or access to classes and extracurricular activities.
We ask that students and employees remain particularly vigilant with social distancing, masking and personal anti-COVID measures in the days before the start of the spring semester.
The following is a timeline for the next 10 days that we are requiring students, faculty and staff to follow as we prepare to reopen campus:
Jan. 14-22: Sign the new Ripon Spring Pledge.
Jan. 18-25: We strongly suggest that students and employees make an effort to get a COVID test close to your home and prior to returning to campus so that if you test positive you are able to quarantine and remain in your own residence.
Friday Jan. 22 – Sunday, Jan. 24: COVID testing begins on campus for all employees, RAs and students already on campus during winter break. Tests will be administered in Great Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day on Jan. 22, 23 and 24.
Friday, Jan. 22: COVID testing and move-in day for students changing housing assignments. Students who commute, as well as faculty and staff, also may choose to take their COVID test this day.
Saturday, Jan. 23: COVID testing and move-in day for students who live in odd-numbered rooms. Students who commute, as well as faculty and staff, also may choose to take their COVID test this day.
Sunday, Jan. 24: COVID testing and move-in day for students who live in even-numbered rooms. Students who commute, as well as faculty and staff, also may choose to take their COVID test this day.
I know you still may have additional questions. We have done our best to anticipate these questions in our FAQs. For further information, please feel free to contact: 920-748-8118 or [email protected]
The college administration plans to have an open town hall meeting for students and a separate one for faculty and staff in February. We also will again be posting regular updates to our COVID dashboard every Monday during the semester.
I wish you all a healthy, safe and rewarding spring semester.
Sincerely,
Zach Messitte
President
Professor of Politics and Government
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