Category: Campus life

As COVID-19 cases rise in Dane County and some call for UW-Madison to send students home, downtown businesses say they’re worried about what will come next.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Big Ten school, announced Wednesday it is shifting to two weeks of remote instruction and quarantining all residents in residence halls due to an increase in positive test results.

42% of 600 initiatives submitted on the site made by students.

Residents who break quarantine cannot come back for two weeks.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank has elected not to heed requests from Dane County elected officials, instead opting to move to completely remote instruction from Sept. 10 to the 25.

A record number of COVID-19 cases in Dane County, driven by University of Wisconsin-Madison students returning to campus, prompted a call from the Dane County executive to discontinue in-person classes, and local public health officials Wednesday issued a warning to people who frequent downtown Madison. 

UW-Madison is going to virtual instruction for the next two weeks and is quarantining students in Sellery and Witte Residence Halls.

A stream of students with bags full of snacks and packs of water filed out of the Fresh Madison Market Wednesday night. As of 10 p.m., residents of Witte and Sellery Halls were to quarantine in place for the next two weeks per an order from Chancellor Rebecca Blank.

Freshmen say it is difficult to meet, spend time with due to social distancing, restrictions inside UW dormitories.

Protests prompted UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank to search for alternative means to honor former UW President Thomas C. Chamberlin.

As the ever present coronavirus looms, Badgers everywhere are adjusting to the fall semester.

The letter said students should only leave their residence for “essential activities,” including receiving a COVID-19 test or medical care; participating in academic activities including classes, studying or research; purchasing food; going to a job; running or walking; or attending a religious observance.

The Associated Students of Madison published a letter asking for a “moral restart,” which includes moving all classes online, lowering residence hall capacity and requiring a negative COVID-19 test before attending social gatherings.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Public Health Madison & Dane County announced Friday a mandatory 14-day quarantine for members of nine UW-Madison fraternities and sororities who live in off-campus chapter houses.

As the University of Wisconsin-Madison calls on its undergraduate students to severely limit their movement and in-person interactions, some hope it will be enough to keep campus open.

Members of other Greek life organizations said they saw this coming, with the influx of gatherings since students started arriving in past weeks.

The Madison City Clerk’s Office has canceled all voter registration drives scheduled to take place on the UW-Madison campus over the next two weeks.

As the number of positive COVID-19 cases among UW-Madison students continues to rise, campus leadership is directing all undergraduate students to severely limit their in-person interactions for the next 14 days.

With the university starting the semester in a hybrid model of classes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, junior Max Serpe said the atmosphere wasn’t the same, but he was glad to finally be back on campus. “It had been six months since I walked into the business school, so it felt really good,” he said. “It’s a home and I’m happy to be home.”

This comes after Chancellor Rebecca Blank wrote an open letter to students that was published on a university website, asking that undergraduates limit their exposure to other over the next 14 days.

One week into the fall semester, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sent a letter to undergraduate students Monday calling on them to restrict their in-person interactions to “essential activities” only.

Wrapping week one of classes, the university announced that nearly 40 students tested positive for COVID-19. Scattered across nine fraternities and sororities, the students were told to isolate, as the other members of their chapter homes were told to quarantine.

UW-Madison students are being asked to quarantine for two weeks following a spike in new COVID-19 cases linked to campus.

The city clerk’s office tweeted about the cancellations, saying they were due to the in-person interaction restrictions on UW’s campus that was announced on Monday.

All members of nine residences must be tested, quarantine after 38 Greek life members tested positive for COVID-19.

Announcement comes after positive test rate more than doubled over five day period.

Effective at 5 p.m. Monday, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank directed all undergraduate students to “severely limit in-person interaction and restrict their movement” for two weeks following a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Facing an increasing number of coronavirus cases among students and staff, University of Wisconsin will ask all undergraduate students to shelter in place for two weeks, beginning at of 5 pm today, according to an announcement from Chancellor Becky Blank.

UW started the first day of classes for undergraduate students Sept. 2, during which several students reported technical difficulties due to online platforms Canvas and Kaltura mediaspace outages.

For various reasons, including health, logistical and financial concerns, a number of students  have chosen to spend their semester from their permanent residences.

As UW-Madison welcomes students back to campus, student COVID-19 cases begin to rise despite the school’s “Smart Restart” approach.

Mary Evansen, a spokesperson for the university’s Division of Information Technology, said a vendor, Kaltura, was experiencing “intermittent outages and issues.”

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