Healthy Campus
FSCares Re-opening Plan

Download Full Plan
FSC Home > COVID-19 > FSCares Plan > Healthy Campus

Table of Contents

Personal Hygiene

Local, state, and federal guidelines will inform College operations on campus. All members of the campus community should be familiar with COVID-19 information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including:

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the CDC advises regular hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.

Washing your hands

  • Washing your hands is easy and one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The CDC provides recommendations about hand washing and using hand sanitizer in community settings.
    Read more
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
  • It is especially important to wash your hands:
    • Before eating or preparing food
    • Before touching your face
    • After using the restroom
    • After leaving a public place
    • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
    • After handling your cloth face covering
    • After changing a diaper
    • After caring for someone sick
    • After touching animals or pets, and their food or waste
    • After touching an item or surface that may be frequently touched by other people (door handles, tables, gas pumps, shopping carts, electronic screens)
  • When washing your hands, follow these five steps:
    • Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.
    • Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
    • Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
    • Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
    • Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

Use Hand Sanitizer When You Cannot Use Soap

  • You can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.
  • Sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in many situations. However:
    • Sanitizers do not get rid of all types of germs.
    • Hand sanitizers may not be as effective when hands are visibly dirty or greasy.
  • How to use hand sanitizer:
    • Apply the product to the palm of one hand.
    • Rub your hands together.
    • Rub the product all over the surfaces of your hands and fingers until dry. This should take around 20 seconds.

*Note: There are important differences between washing hands with soap and water and using hand sanitizer. Further, according to the CDC, hand sanitizers containing methanol can cause serious health problems. Please refer to the CDC’s website for more information.

Masks on Campus

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends “wearing cloth face coverings in public settings when around people … especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” The College is requiring that masks be worn on campus, in classrooms, academic and administrative buildings, office settings, and wherever physical distancing is not possible. Masks must be worn according to the CDC guidelines below. Please refer to the CDC’s Guide to Masks for more information on proper selection, use, and cleaning of masks.

When to Wear a Mask on Campus

  • Masks are required for personal interactions, indoors and outdoors.
  • Masks are always required in all classrooms.
  • Masks must be worn on campus at all times, indoors and outdoors, unless a student is in their room.
    • Examples: hallways, stairs, walkways, restrooms, library, lobbies, classrooms, physical meetings with multiple people, dining facilities, administrative buildings, kitchens, common areas in residence halls, etc.
  • It is only in a private office within a building, when someone is alone, that masks are not required.
    • Students are not required to wear masks in their residence hall rooms, but are free to do so. Students are encouraged to follow physical distancing policies in their rooms. It is best to position beds and desks (where a great deal of time is spent) 6 feet apart, and it is important for roommates to discuss how they will handle social distancing and other living arrangements early and often.
  • In the fall, the College provided reusable, washable masks to all members of the campus community. Those masks should continue to be used in the spring.
    • Additional masks are available for purchase at the College bookstore (depending on available inventory).
    • If personal masks are worn, any decorations or messages should be consistent with the College’s Cornerstone values.

Wear Your Mask Correctly

  • Wash your hands before putting on your face covering.
  • Put it over your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin.
  • Write your name on the inside of your mask so you don’t confuse it with someone else’s.
  • Try to fit it snugly against the sides of your face.
  • Make sure you can breathe easily.
  • Masks should be washed regularly, inspected for damage, and discarded and replaced when damaged.
  • Masks should be stored in a clean, dry location, and they should never be shared.
  • Do not put the face covering around your neck or up on your forehead.
  • Do not touch the face covering, and, if you do, wash your hands, or use hand sanitizer to disinfect.

Physical Distancing on Campus

The College will adhere to all local, state, and federal guidelines and updated protocols for physical distancing. According to the CDC, “COVID-19 spreads mainly through close contact from person to person, including between people who are physically near each other (within about 6 feet).”

Since people can spread the virus before they know they are sick, it is important to stay at least six feet away from others when possible. Therefore, physical distancing (a minimum of six feet between individuals) must be maintained in all spaces throughout campus.

More Information

  • Facilities have been measured and configured so that classes and meetings can take place with proper physical distancing.
    • In order to achieve physical distancing, some class locations have been moved. Please review your individual class schedule on the Portal for the most up-to-date class meeting locations.
    • Faculty must conduct all office hours and advising remotely. Faculty are not to conduct meetings in their office.
    • Staff must maintain physical distance with anyone they are meeting in their offices.
  • Classroom and lab spaces have been reconfigured to maintain physical distancing among students and to establish a “teaching zone” to ensure that the instructor remains distanced as well.
    • This has significantly reduced the capacity of each classroom and lab.
  • Wherever possible, Plexiglas shields have been installed on lecterns and between computer stations in classrooms and labs.
  • Use of elevators is limited to individuals with mobility needs only.
  • All tables, desks, and seating in the classroom must be maintained to ensure physical distancing configurations and to avoid having students facing one another. Students cannot rearrange classroom furniture once it has been moved to meet physical distancing requirements.
  • Large gatherings outside of classroom settings should be avoided until CDC guidelines specify otherwise. It also is recommended that large gatherings be avoided when off campus.
  • Visual cues, including signage, colored tape, floor markings, and other indicators, will be placed throughout campus to help people maintain appropriate distancing and to remind them of other key safety measures.
  • Phones, Internet, or video technology will substitute for in-person meetings whenever possible.
  • The College added two treatment rooms and an additional lobby to the Student Health Center. It is now split into a respiratory side and a non-respiratory side.
    • A staff member will screen students at the door and direct them to the appropriate lobby for treatment, enhancing health and safety protocols.

How Campus will be Cleaned

The CDC reports that “it may be possible that a person may get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it … however, this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” The College will undertake enhanced cleaning of campus facilities, including academic buildings, residence halls, and offices, with a focus on common areas and high contact locations.

Academic Areas

  • Classrooms will be deep cleaned daily. Additionally, all horizontal surfaces and high contact points such as door handles, chair arms, etc., will be disinfected at this time.
  • High contact points will also be disinfected midday and again in the late afternoon.
  • All classrooms will have cleaning supplies available for the cleaning of personal spaces. While custodial staff will clean on a regular basis, faculty and students will clean their personal areas (for example: desk, chair) at the start of each class.
  • In academic buildings, hand sanitizer will be easily accessible from each classroom, either in common areas near a group of classrooms or within individual classrooms.
  • Academic buildings will receive a full coverage cleaning from electrostatic sprayers at least biweekly.
  • Antimicrobial air filters have been installed in academic buildings. Additionally, an antimicrobial surface protectant was applied to all air conditioning systems in our academic buildings to help prevent the growth and spread of bacteria.

Residence Halls

  • Common spaces such as bathrooms, lobbies, and halls will be deep cleaned in the early morning. Additionally, all horizontal surfaces and high contact points such as door handles, faucets, light switches, etc. in the common areas will be disinfected at this time.
  • High contact points will also be disinfected midday and again in the late afternoon.
  • Residence halls will have hand sanitizer placed in lobbies, bathrooms, and by stairway entryways and elevators on each floor.
  • The College will install antibacterial air filters in residence halls and apartments.

Administrative Buildings

  • Administration Buildings will be deep cleaned daily. Additionally, all horizontal surfaces and high contact points, such as door handles, shared office equipment, etc., will be disinfected.
  • High contact points will be disinfected a second time each day.
  • Disinfectant spray will be available upon request.
  • Administrative buildings will have hand sanitizer placed in high traffic areas such as lobbies, foyers, and entryways.

Open Areas (Auditoriums, Theatres, Fitness Rooms, Cafeterias, etc.)

  • These areas will be disinfected using the Sterymax 360 Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayer. Each area will be disinfected on a schedule determined by the needs of the specific space:
    • The cafeteria will be disinfected daily with a special disinfectant sprayer. Surfaces will be regularly wiped down throughout the day.
    • Areas in the Wellness Center will be sanitized outside of the hours of operation.
    • Areas such as auditoriums and theatres will be disinfected based on the use of the space.
  • Locations will have hand sanitizer placed in high traffic areas such as lobbies, foyers, and entryways.

Campus Shuttles and Fleet Vehicles

  • All shuttles will be cleaned with sanitizer between runs and will be disinfected daily using the Sterymax 360 Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayer.
  • All fleet vehicles will be sanitized prior to reservation time and after use.
  • The number of riders will be reduced on the shuttles. Students will need to plan accordingly.

Types of Sanitizers Used

  • Virex 256 is a surface sanitizer spray and is a disinfectant approved by the CDC and EPA.
  • Virex Tb, the ready-to-use version of Virex 256, is also approved by the CDC and EPA. It is used locally by the Polk County School system, local hospital, and emergency services.
  • Sterymax 360 Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayers will be used for selective disbursement of sanitizing products.
  • 70 percent alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which exceed the CDC recommendations, have been purchased to disperse across campus for easy access.

Last updated: January 13, 2021