Students are back on the University of Nevada, Reno campus for the fall semester. There are a lot of differences this year than most students are used to, including the use of face coverings everywhere on campus except in the dorm rooms.
"It's a lot different," Kayla Miller, UNR Junior said. "Everybody's in masks so I really can't tell who's who or like if they're smiling at me or not so it's kind of awkward."
"You don't really get to see people's faces, you don't get that full interaction, having to stay six feet away, so it's kind of hard to meet new people, make new friends," Logan Kimsey, UNR Freshman said.
About 20,000 students will attend UNR this year. About 2,000 of those students have opted to only take online classes. Some faculty have requested to only teach online courses. Officials say 77 percent of the students will take online classes and only about half will have in-person components, like labs or other small classes.
"On a typical first day, this place would be teaming with students," Kevin Carman, Executive Vice President & Provost of UNR said. "Much fewer students here on campus. It's much lower key so you can really tell the difference."
Even the dorm life is different, this year. That is affecting many incoming freshman. Some of the residence halls have three to four students per room but every room is capped at one or two for this semester.
"We just can't have any visitors which is find because all my roommates are really cool, so we all hang out anyways but yeah, then always wearing a mask," Katelyn Counts, UNR Freshman said.
The university is leasing two brand new apartment buildings to accommodate the students who cannot live in the dorms. Canyon Flats is just south of campus in downtown Reno. Uncommon is the other building, across Virginia Street of the north side of campus. Since those are not completed, a couple hundred students are staying at Whitney Peak until September 3 or 4, when they can move into their apartments. Officials say the students live off-campus but it is as close to living in a dorm as possible, which is important for their success. Data shows that students who live on campus have a better shot of being successful.
"That's more likely to graduate on time, have less debt, more likely to get jobs in their field," Dr. Dean Kennedy, Executive Director of Residential Life, Housing and Food Services for UNR said. "It's those interpersonal interactions, connecting with each other, building meaningful relationships, finding a career partner to open a business with, being able to be really close to faculty, resources."
An explosion at Argenta more than one year ago left two residence halls closed. Nye Hall is open again but Argenta Hall will be closed until fall of 2021. The loss of those rooms and the lower capacity of the existing rooms means many freshman are starting their college careers off campus. Many students were on a waiting list to move into the dorms.
"A lot of people weren't able to get into the dorms because of that so they stayed in their hometowns and did online," Kimsey said. "Some of us had the opportunity to move into an apartment."
"I got put in a queue or on a waiting list but it was a little too late," Eric Hansen, UNR Freshman said. "I already had my plans made because I was afraid that I wasn't going to get housing."
The rules for COVID-19 on UNR's campus are similar to the CDC guidelines. Along with required masks, students have to sit six feet apart during classes, clean their work areas with sanitary wipes, hand sanitizer is readily available and signs are set up throughout campus to let students and staff know their responsibilities.
"We're doing everything we can to maximize safety while also providing an in-person experience for students who want to be on campus," Carman said. "We're also trying to be as flexible as we can."
Carman says one of the negative impacts for incoming students is the lack of social events and clubs where they can meet new people. He also says that since most of last year's high school seniors finished the 2020 spring semester with distance learning, they will have an easier time adjusting, this year. Many students say they are just happy that campus is open for business.
"I'm so excited because I came here and I was like 'Oh my god, this feels like home.' so it's really nice to be able to go to school even if we do have to wear a mask," Jonel Stevenson, UNR Freshman said. "It's kind of like the norm now so it's really cool that we get to experience the life of college our first year."
Carman says the university expects the student population to drop by about one percent from last year. That is lower than the three percent it expected as a result of the pandemic.
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