Tufts University announced its move-in plan for students living on and off campus in an email sent today by university administrators. Revised campus arrival dates, which begin on August 16 and end on September 13, in addition to protocols such as mandatory testing and quarantine, purport to reduce the risk of exposure among the Tufts community.
The new guidelines designate students as either “in-region” or “out-of-region.” The former includes students arriving from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. “Out-of-region” students are considered those arriving from other states or an international location.
The move-in dates for “in-region” students living on campus are Sept. 8-13. “Out-of-region” students living on campus will be allowed to move in Aug. 27-30.
“In-region” students living off campus will move in Sept. 1-8, and those from “out-of-region” will move in Aug. 16-26, if permitted by lease.
Upon arrival, every student must quarantine and receive COVID-19 testing. Those coming from an “in-region” location must quarantine until they receive one negative test while “out-of-region” students are required to quarantine until they receive three negative test results; the expected wait time for completing all three tests is seven to eight days.
Students coming from “out-of-region” will be required to stay in their assigned residence rooms or leased residences until they complete the entire testing series.
Family members and friends from “out-of-region” accompanying students for move-in may only do so if they have completed a 14-day quarantine upon arrival or have proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of arrival.
Those from “in-region” do not have to be tested or quarantined. The guidelines allow only two people to accompany each student for move-in, and they must depart campus once their student has moved in and been tested.
According to the updated Residential Life website, students returning to campus will be required to sign up for move-in dates and times, which can be accessed through the SIS Housing Portal Aug. 3-20.
Since masks will be required during the entirety of the move-in, the university encourages students to utilize options provided by the university to make the process easier, such as “Drive & Drop” and shipping items to campus. Moving assistance will be available on designated arrival days.
The university also asks off-campus students to allow “out-of-region” roommates to arrive first.
In a separate email to students who remain on-campus for the summer, the university notified campus residents that they will participate in a pilot testing program between Aug. 3-13, where they will receive four tests on four different dates.
Guidelines for graduate students will be released on a later date, according to the email sent to the full student body.
