ABERDEEN, S.D.(Press Release)- We are looking forward to having you back on campus for the spring semester. This is a critical time for us to make the transition back into campus life carefully, given how faculty, staff, and students are reassembling from around the globe during a dramatic new surge in COVID cases. In fact, statewide it has been reported that we have the largest number of active cases since the pandemic began. Based on this information and the current CDC Guidelines, the following Presentation College COVID Guidelines for Spring 2022 will be followed:

Resident Student Return & COVID Testing:

• Resident students are encouraged to return to campus as scheduled. We realize some of you may be delayed by flight issues. Housing and food service will be available as originally scheduled, so students are encouraged to arrive as planned.
• Given the recent surges in COVID cases, state-wide, nationally, and globally, all resident students will be COVID tested upon their arrival. Dr. Welling, Dr. Garstecki and the Student Affairs and Clinic teams are working on the logistics of administering those tests. More information on the testing process is to come. This will take some time, especially over the next week, as students return.
• Thus, we are recommending that students come back on schedule (or nearly thereafter, if flights delay them) in order to be tested, and if necessary, treated/quarantined during the first two weeks of the semester. This helps to ensure the greatest opportunity for prevention of COVID spread in the early weeks of their return and of being able to provide in-person education for the rest of the semester.

Commuter Students:

• PC will provide all commuter students with home tests. Dr. Welling and Dr. Simon will be coordinating student test distribution and return for processing.

New Student Orientation:

• New Student orientation will take place on Monday January 10, 2022, IN PERSON for students who have been tested and who are masked.

 Classes & Campus Protocols:

• All classes will be held online during those first two weeks of the semester. This means in-person classes will resume on Monday, January 24. This gives faculty and commuter students the opportunity to be tested and, if necessary, to be treated/quarantined in this first pivotal, post-holiday weeks.
• Clinicals will continue to be held as scheduled, as those students are subject to similar guidelines from the health care organizations where clinicals are held.
• During the first two weeks on online learning, faculty may be working remotely, so please continue to check your PC emails and Moodle for updates.
• From now through the first two weeks on the semester, everyone is required to wear masks in campus buildings when within 6 feet of others.
• During the first month of the semester, the campus will not be open to the public without prior approval—but only to campus employees and students. (Students’ parents/guardians, of course, may help students with move in.)
• During this critical time of student return and testing, athletic competitions will be closed to the public without prior approval (first two weeks of the Spring semester). Only tested students, faculty, staff, and approved game personnel will be able to attend—and only if masked. This begins with the January 7 basketball games in the Strode.