Investing in making college safe could pay off be keeping more students enrolled, the college administrators hope.
By Kelly Burch, Granite State News Collaborative
Students at Keene State College were able to return for hybrid classes and on-campus living because of the college’s willingness to spend on testing and other COVID precautions. (Courtesy photo).
In the fall of 2020, when many schools and colleges were opting to go remote, Keene State decided to try to safely bring students back to campus. The initiative — which includes frequent testing of students and staff, monitoring of local waste water, and a 24/7 rapid response team — has cost the school nearly $5 million, but pending any major changes it will enable Keene to keep students on campus and in classrooms until the spring semester ends on May 28.
“It takes all hands on deck,” said Kelly Ricaurte, director of strategic communications and community relations at the college.
The administration at Keene State realized early on that having students on campus was essential. A survey of students showed that most wanted to get back to Keene. More importantly from a business perspective, the college knew that having students close meant keeping them connected to the school. With time, that would mean fewer students transferring.
“It’s important for our financials to have students on campus… to make sure they have a sense of community and connection with professors, and keep them at keene,” said Ricaurte.
In addition to requiring masks, the college decided to use CARES Act funding to test all faculty and students once a week. Administrators converted a gym on campus into a full-time testing site. The testing itself was outsourced to a vendor. Once a person had the test, they received a wrist band, which served as their pass to access all buildings on campus. The color of the bands changed weekly.
With those precautions in place, students were able to attend hybrid classes and live in college dorms.
If a person tested positive for the virus, a rapid response team of volunteer students and staff were on hand to alert them at any hour of the day or night. The team also started contact tracing, so that anyone who had been exposed to the person could quarantine.
“That’s been a huge part of our success so far,” Ricaurte said.
Keene State College started the year testing all students once a week, but increased that to twice weekly when cases began rising during the spring semester. (Courtesy photo).
During the spring semester, cases of COVID began rising on campus, as they were in New Hampshire and throughout the country. The school made the decision to test students twice a week, while continuing weekly testing for staff and faculty. On Mondays and Tuesdays the entire student body moves through the testing site; on Thursdays and Fridays all students and staff are tested.
“We have it down to a system now,” Ricaurte said.
During a recent testing cycle in mid-March, Keene State administered 4,846 tests. Of them, 16 were positive. The college posts all COVID-related data publicly online.
Ricaurte declined to elaborate on what rate of positive tests would cause the college to go fully remote. In reality, it depends on a variety of factors, she said, and the decision would be made by the college’s COVID taskforce.
In addition to testing, Keene State has also worked with the city to analyze wastewater samples. Since COVID can be excreted in feces, sampling the waste water is a way of predicting when the college might see a surge in cases, Ricaurte said.
As the college looks toward the 2021-2022 academic year, there is a push to have all classes happening in person full-time.
“Vaccines, we think, will put us in a different place,” Ricaurte said.
Students at Keene State will not be compelled to be vaccinated, Ricaurte said, but the college is working on a push to encourage students to get their shot.
“We won’t be requiring a vaccine, but we will be strongly encouraging,” she said.
Ultimately, the college’s protocol for the fall semester will be based on health guidelines from the state and federal government, informed by researchers.
“Every decision we’ve been making is based on science,” Ricaurte said. “We want to continue to watch the science and see what’s safe for our community.”
This story is part of the 50 Businesses, 50 Solutions series, shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative, that aims to highlight how business leaders across the state, from mom and pop shops, to large corporations have adapted to meet the challenges and disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus in the hopes others may be able to replicate these ideas and innovations. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.