Navigating a pandemic: Salve Regina prepares for the fall semester

NEWPORT -- A mere eight months after being inaugurated as the eighth president of Salve Regina University, Dr. Kelli J. Armstrong is leading the institution’s charge against a foe higher education has never before faced.

“I feel badly for Salve that they got the rookie president through all of this,” Armstrong joked during a phone conversation last Thursday. “But you see what folks are made of and how they respond to crisis. They’re all in and working so hard, and the faculty really have come through for the students.”

As fears of the spread of the coronavirus grew larger, the university announced March 20 that students would not return to campus upon the end of spring break and instead would finish the semester via remote learning. The annual commencement ceremony was postponed.

“I speak for the entire community when I tell you that our hearts go out to the Class of 2020 and those who expected to proudly celebrate with them in May,” Armstrong wrote in a message to the Salve community at the time.

Now she turns her focus to what the historic campus will look like in the fall.

Gov. Gina Raimondo has been in contact with the presidents of all the state’s colleges and universities and gave them a mid-June deadline to formulate a plan for students to safely return to campus.

Armstrong said the presidents are working in conjunction to formulate the “best practices and guidelines,” but that each institution will create a plan best suited for its campus. For example, the class sizes at Salve Regina rarely exceed 30 students, so it wouldn’t have to plan for the large lecture halls a student might see at the University of Rhode Island.

“We are going to be working in close consultation with the [Rhode Island] Department of Health and the governor to make sure whatever we do is within the state guidelines in that moment and time,” Armstrong said. “We all know that things will be different around social distancing until we get a vaccine. It will mean cleaning dorm rooms and additional cleaning. Dining will look different. The best approach is to go forward with the best social-distancing measures.”

But “we plan to be open,” Armstrong said. “The option of a year wait, or a two-year wait for a vaccine won’t serve higher education.”

During her press briefing Saturday, Raimondo said her administration provided some parameters to colleges and universities as it relates to social distancing, testing, international students, sporting events and other events outside of the classroom, infection control and cleaning.

“Bottom line, it’s a really complicated exercise,” she said in response to a reporter’s question. She added that she’d have a better view once the plans are submitted in about five or six weeks.

Armstrong said Salve more than likely will test every student who returns to campus.

“I think we’re going to have to have some form of testing, for the parents’ sake who are sending their sons and daughters off to school,” she said. “And we have staff of varying ages. There will have to be a system for testing to ensure our students remain healthy.”

Athletics certainly are a big part of campus life at Salve Regina, though sporting events that draw large crowds are in jeopardy. Gregg Kaye, commission of the Commonwealth Coast Conference, of which Salve is a member, said all seven NCAA Division III conferences in New England are in a “wait-and-see mode.”

“The timing and structure of our fall sports is extremely dependent on when each of our member institutions are in a position to return safely to campus and resume traditional academic environments,” Kaye said in an email to The Daily News. “With our members located in three different states and numerous municipalities, it is virtually impossible to know when each college and university will return to the setting that we all miss greatly.”

He has started to explore the possibility of what a season might look like should it start two weeks late, or even a month.

“If the situation dictates a late start and fewer games that can be played in a safe environment, the largest priority for the CCC will be the preservation of a full conference schedule and conference tournament as much as possible,” Kaye said.

Last Friday marked College Decision Day around the country, when high school seniors announce where they plan to attend school. But many students are altering those plans because of the coronavirus.

“I’m trying to narrow down my choices, but there is no guarantee there will be college on campus this fall,” Portsmouth High School senior Connor Little told The Providence Journal. “It makes me wonder, ‘Why would I spend all that extra money?’ I could go to the Community College of Rhode Island and get a much cheaper education there. A lot of my friends who were going to out-of-state [schools] are now signing up for CCRI.”

So how do you sell a college experience when you don’t know what that experience will entail? Jim Fowler, the vice president for enrollment management, said Salve Regina is more than just a beautiful seaside campus.

“While we are obviously very proud of our amazing campus and the fact we’re in Newport, what we talk about with the Salve experience is the really mission-focused approach to higher-education,” Fowler told The Daily News during a phone conversation on Friday. “We have a curriculum that prepares students for success in a rapidly changing world.”

Fowler also mentioned that Salve Regina is very “generous” when it comes to financial aid.

In an email to The Daily News, university spokesman Matt Boxler said Salve Regina surpassed enrollment expectations during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which would help the university absorb any financial strain should the enrollment numbers take a hit this fall.

“I think every institution has some concerns about finances, as does every sector of the economy,” Fowler said. But Salve Regina is an “institution that operates in the black when too many institutions are operating at a deficit. Financially, we’re in a stable place so if the worst happens we’ll still be here when it’s done.”

Salve has moved its deadline for enrollment from May 1 to June 1, and decreased its deposit from $1,500 to $700. Armstrong said the university is willing to be flexible regarding the deposit.

The incoming Class of 2024 certainly will have a story to tell about its initial college experience, but so too will the Class of 2020 on its way out the door. Armstrong said there is no set date for a proper commencement ceremony, which generally occurs outside under a tent and is dependent on the weather. She said if coronavirus concerns persist and it can’t happen in the fall, it will be pushed to the spring of 2021.

It’s anyone’s guess what the Salve Regina campus will look like come September.

“I’m feeling more and more confident we’ll be open and in person in the fall. We’ll do all of the safety measures we need to do,” Armstrong said. “For any college residents, it will look a little different and we’ll still have the virus with us. But it will look much better than when we were in isolation.”