Coronavirus Information

Use of Homewood indoor facilities

January 29, 2021

Dear Homewood Students, Faculty, and Staff, 

The resumption of some in-person classes on Monday brings new opportunities for academic and other interactions on campus for the first time in nearly 11 months, but also new requirements to ensure our collective safety during the continuing COVID pandemic. We know many of you have questions about how to safely use our campus spaces, and we wish to clarify the permissible and impermissible uses in buildings on the Homewood campus.  

In order for our community to have a safe and healthy spring semester, it will be imperative for all of us to follow these rules. Detailed questions about particular spaces should be directed to the deans’ offices. Safety ambassadors will be monitoring the use of space and compliance with our health and safety guidelines. 

General Facilities Plan 

  • In order to facilitate a de-densified campus, we ask that you continue to use digital tools to meet with other students or faculty to the greatest extent possible. 
  • To support compliance with Prodensity health assessment and testing requirements, which we outlined in our previous message, Homewood campus buildings, with limited exceptions (including the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the Brody Learning Commons, and the O’Connor Recreation Center), will remain locked at all times during the spring academic semester.  
  • To access a building, each community member will be asked to enter through designated J-Card-enabled doors and swipe in upon access, even if they have key access to alternate doors.   
  • We have installed additional J-Card devices so that each building will have at least one J-Card-enabled door.  
  • Over the next year, additional J-Card installations will be completed. 
  • Note that many doors operate with ADA controls and may open and close slowly. Community members do NOT need to wait for the door to close each time but MUST swipe their card. 

Permitted Uses 

Starting Monday, February 1, the following will be permitted on the Homewood campus: 

  • Use of furnished areas within building atriums and lobbies. Homewood facilities teams have evaluated and prepared common spaces and added signage. Furniture has been arranged to adhere to our distancing requirements and ensure there is no obstruction of passageways, entrances, or exits. Furniture in these spaces may NOT be rearranged or augmented. These spaces are envisioned to serve: 
    • Individual students  
    • Small groups (< 10) of students, faculty, or staff who wish to get together in a safe, de-densified environment for group study or discussions 
  • Use of common spaces in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library or other libraries, Brody Learning Commons, Recreation Center, Hutzler Reading Room, and temporary structure on the Freshman Quad  
    • The Sheridan Libraries will share at a later date more specific health and safety guidelines on using library space and resources.  
  • Use of Homewood laboratory and design spaces outside of class for work instructors determine to be relevant to students enrolled in their courses  
  • Use of Homewood spaces for structured student academic support activities 
  • Use of Homewood spaces for student group programming and events that have been pre-approved by Homewood Student Affairs 

Smaller dining outlets, such as Brody and Levering Kitchens & Café, will be open for grab-and-go service only until further notice. 

Impermissible Uses 

The use of individual Homewood offices to hold one-on-one meetings, office hours, or discussions with students, either graduate or undergraduate, or with other faculty will continue to be prohibited at this time but may be revisited during the term. These activities should either take place in the prepared common spaces noted above or through digital channels.   

We have attempted to plan comprehensively for the safe use of campus spaces during the spring semester, but we know situations will arise that we have not anticipated, and we will adjust our policies and plans generally and with respect to individual spaces as needed to protect our community’s health. Affiliates who see violations of this policy should contact the Speak2Us Compliance Hotline (844-SPEAK2US or website). Please continue to watch for updates to these guidelines, and check covidinfo.jhu.edu for the most current information. Above all, we ask that you continue to be mindful of the best public health guidance: wear masks, remain physically distant, wash your hands frequently and monitor yourself for symptoms. Together, we can make this a safe and rewarding semester when we adhere to the fundamentals of our Social Compact.

Stay safe and be well, 

Stephen J. Gange 
Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs 
Professor of Epidemiology 

Jane Schlegel 
Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer