Details on how housing and dining are expected to function during the upcoming fall quarter were given at the July 15 Wildcat Wednesday meeting held online by CWU’s orientation team.

Housing

According to Tricia Rabel, executive director for housing and residence life, a typical year sees 3000 students living in CWU’s 20 residence halls, and 1000 students living in it’s five apartment complexes.

“While lots of things will be different, our experience and our hope for your student’s experience on campus will be the same,” Rabel said. 

Shared residence hall spaces, such as bathrooms, will be cleaned once or twice a day according to Rabel, with high frequency touch points being cleaned more often. 60% of students will live in a residence hall space where they will use a community hallway bathroom, and all first year students are required by the university to live in a residence hall unless they request an exemption. 

In suite-style residence halls, where the bathrooms are attached to the rooms, residents are responsible for the cleanliness of their own space, Rabel said

A cloth face covering will be required in the public areas of residence halls, in accordance with Washington State’s mask requirement and CWU’s requirement for face coverings in all public university spaces. These public areas include lounges, kitchens and laundry rooms. 

Residents within their wing of the hall do not currently need to wear a mask. However, these guidelines may be changed as the understanding of the virus or the public health situation develops.

“We want to both respect students’ ability to live in their room and have a little bit of freedom but also know that we want to protect our community,” Rabel said.

Dining

According to Director of Dining Services Dean Masuccio, SURC dining facilities will operate at a reduced seating capacity over fall quarter, including Holmes Dining Room. Central Marketplace will also have reduced seating capacity available, following all local and state directives.

The majority of other dining facilities, like Northside Commons and the Cafés, will be take-out only. Self-service dining will also be modified, with salad bars now having a server or switching to pre-packaged foods. 

“You will be able to mobile order and pick up at select locations across campus to support some of the modifications that we need to address in this COVID world,” Masuccio said.

This mobile order and pick up system will be compatible with meal plan funds, according to Masuccio. The pick up points on campus will be the North Village Café, Cat Trax East and the Central Marketplace.