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Alsop: WVU hasn’t seen drop in student registration as some had predicted

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU Vice President Rob Alsop says the university hasn’t lost as much enrollment in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic that some were originally predicting for colleges and universities.

Rob Alsop

“A number of schools and a number of folks early on in the crisis thought there would be 20 to 30 percent declines in enrollment but we haven’t seen that,” Alsop told MetroNews affiliate WAJR Radio Thursday. “Most students who we have expected to register by now have registered.”

Alsop took part in another one of what WVU calls “campus conversations” Thursday. Those are regularly scheduled events when WVU officials explain how the campus is preparing for the fall semester in light of the coronavirus. Alsop’s comments followed a letter he sent to the university community earlier this week.

He talked more Thursday about the requirement to wear masks while on campus.

“The primary thing we can do to reduce the spread of any positive cases is for folks to wear masks. So while we’re in class, while we’re walking through halls, while we’re moving about the campus, we are going to require our folks to wear masks,” Alsop said.

He said discussions are ongoing about the possibility that students could see their grades marked down if they don’t wear masks in class.

“There are faculty that have classroom participation as part of the grade. There are discussions ongoing as to whether if you refuse to wear to mask it can harm your grade because you’re not participating in the classroom as expected,” Alsop said.

Capacity at all on-campus facilities and public areas will be reduced and enhanced cleaning measure will be implemented. Electrostatic Victory sprayers, backpack sprayers and battery pump-up sprayers will be used to clean and disinfect large areas. Other spaces in high-traffic areas will be cleaned throughout the day. High-touch areas such as restrooms will be cleaned every eight hours.

“There will be an increased presence, you’ll see more cleaning throughout the campus and there will be more hand sanitizer stations available for folks to care of their own personal hygiene,” according to Alsop.

Social distancing will be enforced in dining halls, seating will be reduced and there will be more Grab ’n Go and retail offerings, plus the elimination of buffets.

“We’ll have dining workers who all have temperature checks and will be wearing appropriate PPE and gloves to serve the students,” Alsop said. “So what we’re working on is not changing the choices options available for our students, but they get that food.”

Classrooms will be at 50 percent occupancy whenever feasible for the fall. Officials are working on plans to reopen and manage occupancy in classrooms or larger areas like Evansdale Crossing, Mountainlair, libraries and the WVU Rec Center.

More details about testing, transportation, personal protective equipment and cleaning materials are expected to be released July 21.

The WVU Board of Governors meets Friday in Morgantown.

MetroNews reporter Jeff Jenkins contributed to this story. 





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