UMaine plans student return to campus next month, despite statewide surge in COVID cases
The University of Maine System announced it’s on track for a spring return of students — with more COVID-19 testing.
Resident halls will open and students will be welcome to return to campus with arrival screening the week of Jan. 19. A mix of in-person, hybrid and on-line classes will start Jan. 25, the UMaine System said.
The individual universities will distribute campus-specific details to students, faculty and staff over the first few weeks of winter break.
During the fall semester, the system conducted nearly 40,000 asymptomatic PCR tests for COVID-19.
Now the system, campus-based testing leaders, existing testing partners and other stakeholders are working on plans to expand testing and adapt screening and tracing strategies to increasing case counts.
The testing expansion will be supported in part by a commitment of the Mills Administration to devote $8.15 million in federal CARES Act funds to reimburse the system for fall semester testing and personal protective equipment expenses incurred to limit the spread of infection among students, employees and Maine communities.
The system called its public health protocols the “Together for Maine” campaign.
“Shared commitment to our Together for Maine public health campaign and our screening strategies allowed us to fulfill our educational and research missions this fall without being a source of outbreak or significant spread of COVID-19.” Chancellor Dannel Malloy said in a news release. “There is reason for optimism with the deployment of a safe and effective vaccine, but we expect to confront higher case counts in January than we did in August. We will respond with increased testing capacity.”
Gov. Janet Mills’ commitment to reimburse the universities for first-semester testing and PPE expenses helps provide the system with the resources needed to expand testing in the spring, he said.
Academic innovation, technology, and administrative accommodations have created significant learning and remote work flexibility in response to the pandemic.
But many elements of public higher education’s mission still must occur in person. This can include nursing clinical experiences, access to research facilities and laboratories, and providing residences and support to students who prefer or require on-campus living.
The system is working with testing leaders, existing partners and other vendors to develop additional testing capacity, logistical support, and update strategies for the spring semester. Agreements are already in place to provide the safe arrival screening and support the monitoring strategies that successfully limited the spread of infection in the fall.
Malloy has appointed a task force on vaccine partnership and planning to expand and facilitate the use of university resources to assist with vaccine distribution, recommend needed changes to UMS immunization requirements, and contribute to student and public awareness about the efficacy and safety of FDA-approved vaccines.
Nearly all of the students — 97.8% or 29,348 early college, undergraduate, graduate, and law students — who were enrolled for the fall semester throughout the system were still enrolled by the end of the semester on Dec. 11.
Malloy said the Together for Maine campaign was a contributing factor in the decision to continue with in-person instruction and a residential experience for students in the spring. Noteworthy elements included near-universal adherence to mask-wearing, distancing and group-size limitations, administering nearly 40,000 asymptomatic PCR tests for COVID-19, meeting the testing targets of the system’s random, required monitoring strategy, and academic innovation to provide learning across multiple modalities.
The system’s scientific advisory board has been providing analysis of pandemic developments.
“Our fall experience shows us that, if we can return safely to our campuses, we can stay safe, or perhaps even safer, than the communities surrounding us by regularly testing our in-person population and isolating the cases we find apart from our communities,” Malloy said in a system-wide letter this week.
“These are the simple public health science facts and realities of the pandemic, and we know how to respond to them. I know that doing more testing will mean an even greater commitment and effort from our dedicated university testing leaders and staff, as well as additional operational capacity to support the expansion of testing — including the possibility of offering our students the chance to help in the effort.”
The system currently has 22 active known cases of students or employees in public health agency isolation; 21 are at the Orono campus and one is at Presque Isle. This week’s case count is eight fewer than the cases reported Dec. 18. None of the active cases are residential students.
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