FIU Board of Trustees approves campus repopulation plan

The FIU Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved the university’s plan for resuming in-person classes and on-campus operations in the fall.
 
The FIU Repopulating Task Force, made up of university administrators, faculty, staff, medical experts and emergency management professionals created a plan named Panthers Protecting Panthers for reopening FIU campuses in the fall. The approach incorporates federal, state and local guidelines in addition to the framework provided by the Florida Board of Governors. The plan will be presented at a BOG meeting on June 23.
 
The FIU plan calls for a combination of in-person, online, remote and hybrid classes and is heavily dependent on every member of the university community acting responsibly and protecting each other. The Panthers Protecting Panthers plan has several important components:

• All students, faculty and staff will fill out a questionnaire on an app FIU has developed (P3) at the beginning of each day on campus. The app will be used as a tool to determine whether the person has been exposed to COVID-19.
• FIU requires everyone to wear face coverings while on campus and maintain physical distancing of at least six feet from another person, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
• Frequent hand washing or use of hand sanitizers is encouraged via signs and other reminders.
• Common areas and other high-touch areas will be cleaned more frequently, according to CDC and/or state or local guidelines.
• On-campus work schedules and work spaces will be adjusted to maximize physical distancing.
• Students will find reconfigured classrooms and adjusted class schedules and course delivery methods.

Students will be allowed to return to residence halls in the fall, with a structured move-in process, changes to staff interactions and modified restrictions of use of shared common spaces. A block of 65 independent rooms (University Apartments) will remain unoccupied this fall and will be used as isolation rooms for residential students who test positive for COVID-19.
 
Special guidelines are in place and will continue to be reviewed for extracurricular activities, events and athletics.

For continuous updates and the latest information visit the FIU Coronavirus Updates page.