Housing COVID-19 Policies

Guests and Visitors

All non-COVID guest policies apply as listed in the Berea College Residential Living Guide (RLG) and any policy listed below is in addition to the RLG and does not take away from the RLG. Guest(s) is anyone who does not live in the residence hall. Visitor(s) are guests who are of the opposite sex of their host. 

  • Any person that does not qualify as an active on-campus, residence hall student is not permitted to be in any Student Life managed housing without approval (This policy includes residence halls, ecovillage, and other housing i.e. Hunt Acres)
  • Any guest or visitor must be signed in while they are in the building, this is to assist contact tracers as well as to enforce the safety and occupancy of the building at any time.
  • Only one guest or visitor may be signed in at a time by any resident. Special permission for additional guests may be requested in writing by contacting the Area Coordinator of any building. Written documentation of any approval is required.
  • 1 Guest, total, is permitted inside of a residential room at any time. When Guests are inside your room:
    • Masks must remain on the entire time a guest is inside your room.
    • Only one guest is permitted per room regardless of roommates or no roommates.
    • Roommates must agree on guest policy through the roommate agreement. For any roommate pair, guests will not be allowed in the room without a completed Roommate Agreement.
  • Once signed in, guests may occupy all common spaces, this includes kitchens, TV areas, and study rooms for which the host has signed up. Guests and hosts must be mindful of any occupancy limitations for each of those spaces.  Individual guests are permitted to be signed into their host’s room.
  • Regardless of gender, you must accompany your guest at all times, they may not be left alone or with another resident, exceptions are made for bathroom usage where the host is expected to escort their guest to the bathroom, wait for them to exit the bathroom, and escort them back into the living quarters.
  • Visitors or guests must leave a building by 11:00 pm. This includes any area inside of the building. This does not act as a curfew; this is stating that you may not be inside a residence hall that you do not reside in past the hour 11:00 pm. Guests and visitation will resume at 5:00 pm the following day during the week (M-F) and at 12:00 pm (noon) on Saturday and Sunday.

See the updated visitation policy here

Travel Policy

All students should be aware that travel is permitted by approval only. Travel requests should be submitted at Berea.edu/student-life/ at least two weeks in advance. Please know that travel requests will be approved for medical need and emergency need only.

  • Outside of approved travel, students should plan to spend every night in their designated residence hall.
  • Visiting residential homes without approval is not permitted. This includes the homes of town students, faculty, staff, local residents, etc. within city limits.
  • Students are not permitted to ride in vehicles of those living off-campus or in the Ecovillage
  • Rideshare services such as Uber or Lift are not approved methods of transportation.
  • Those who are approved for overnight travel will be required to quarantine upon their return to campus.

Use of Lobbies, Common Spaces, Kitchens, and Lounges

Hours of operation: 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM. A lobby is an open space in a building. A study room is an open space that is behind a closed door. A kitchen is any space there is an oven present. If a lobby is next to a kitchen, that will be counted separate from the kitchen.

  • Signups must be used for all lobbies, common spaces, kitchens, and lounges. Signups are available through Signup Genius
    • Residents will be able to sign up no more than a week in advance and will be able to sign up no fewer than 24 hours in advance. Therefore, residents will have to plan for their space usage appropriately.
    • Signups for all common areas, kitchens, and lounges will begin at 7:00 am and will end at 11:00 pm. These will be available in primarily two-hour increments. The final slot for most areas will begin at 9:00 pm and end at 11:00 pm.
  • If planning to use a lobby area next to a kitchen, resident(s) must sign-up for both the kitchen and the lobby.
  • A resident could be found to be in violation of COVID Policy if any of the following are observed:
    • Not wearing a mask while using the space (With the exception of active eating done at an appropriate distance from others).
    • Having more than one guest (except for permission given by the Area Coordinator).
    • Using the space without RSVP’ing for the timeslot (If you plan to be in space 15 minutes or longer, you must RSVP).
    • Failing to sanitize an area after they have signed up to use the space.

Use of Laundry Facilities

  • Hours of operation: The Laundry room will be open between the house of 7:00am and 11:00pm anyone found using the facilities outside of this time will be subject to judicial action.
  • Signup slot length: The laundry slot length will be dependent upon need of specific residence hall, typically no shorter than 2 hours in length.
  • RSVP window: Residents will be able to sign up no more than a week in advance and will be able to sign up no fewer than 24 hours in advance. Therefore, residents will have to plan for their space usage appropriately.
  • Guest and visitation: There will be no visitation/guests permitted in any laundry area. Along with COVID Policy, laundry is a private task and it is best practice to avoid any visitation or guests in a laundry area.

For the full list of policies, please click the button below:

Student Life Housing COVID-19 Policies

 

For more information on Berea College’s COVID-19 Policies, please visit the official Berea College COVID-19 Policies and Communications page.