None of the 44 student leaders Rhode Island School of Design welcomed back this month in preparation for in-person learning tested positive for COVID-19.
While colleges around the country, including Brown, have reversed or reconsidered their in-person fall plans, RISD has maintained its original plan to bring students back to Providence and get them back into the classroom this September.
The plan, announced June 15, notes that studio- and shop-based classes will be held in person with social distancing modifications set in place, while other courses will be offered virtually or in a hybrid online, in-person format, The Herald previously reported.
2,100 to 2,200 students have enrolled this year, compared to 2,500 in previous years, according to RISD Senior Public Relations Specialist Danielle Mancuso. Of enrolled students, between 400 and 500 will study remotely — meaning approximately 1,600 students are planning to return to Providence.
Online classes are set to begin at RISD on Sept. 10, with in-person classes beginning Sept. 17.
After students arrive and have been tested, on-campus students must follow a 14-day quarantine period, while off-campus students must follow Rhode Island Health Department guidelines for returning students. Afterwards, 10 percent of the student body, around 300 people total, will be tested each every two weeks.
The test procedure involves a “self-collected swab of the anterior nares,” Mancuso wrote in an email to The Herald, with test results given to both RISD and the student within 24 hours. All arrival testing expenses are covered by RISD.
On-campus students will be tested from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, off-campus students from Sept. 3 to Sept. 9, and faculty from Sept. 10 to Sept. 16. Currently, on-campus staff is being tested from Aug.19 to 28.
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