Department of Housing > Return to Campus > Fall Quarter FAQ

Fall Quarter FAQs

​​​​​​​​Last Updated: October 5, 2020​

​The information below pertains to a limited number of students approved for on-campus housing, Fall Quarter 2020. DePaul's top priority is always the health and safety of our community. Therefore, the university made an announcement on August 12 to transition into remote learning (where possible) and significantly reduce housing occupancy on campus as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Click here​ for the official announcement.

​COVID-19 

DePaul University developed a comprehensive plan for Fall Quarter, which includes wearing mandatory face coverings, social distancing, conducting personal health checks, providing access to testing, and cleaning and disinfecting in our buildings around campus. Part of this plan also included drastically reducing the number of on-campus residents, limiting occupancy to students who met at least one of these criteria:

• Students dependent on campus resources such as housing, dining, and technology in order to successfully and safely navigate college.

• Students with safety and security concerns in their current living environment.

• Students who still have classes/labs that will meet in-person 

• International students who are already in the U.S. or otherwise in need of being in the U.S. for educational Visa requirements.

• Student athletes with a need to be on campus for Fall sports/practices as deemed necessary by the NCAA.

Click here for DePaul's COVID-19 updates, as well as health and safety practices. In addition, please pay attention to emails and signage posted throughout the halls from DePaul Housing and Residential Education—these may contain important information and instructions regarding COVID-19. 

DePaul Housing and Residential Education created a Quarantine & Isolation Guide with step-by-step instructions and resources to help you and other residents throughout the quarantine/isolation process. We highly recommend all residents review this guide carefully while living on campus during the pandemic. 

DePaul cannot disclose the identity of individuals who test positive for or are confirmed to have COVID-19. All DePaul community members have an obligation to protect the privacy of people who test positive for or are confirmed to have COVID-19, as well as the people identified as close contacts.

DePaul’s contact tracing team will call those who have been identified as having been in prolonged close contact with an infected individual. As a reminder, prolonged close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or more. Those who had brief, casual contact with an infected individual are considered low risk. As always, everyone should monitor their health and stay at home if they develop symptoms. Anyone who develops severe symptoms should seek medical care immediately.   

Moreover, Facility Operations has readily available options on both campuses for disinfecting spaces of various sizes and configurations. The resources include:

• Hospital-grade disinfectant

• Hospital-quality portable UV-C light machine rated to kill 99.9 percent of all virus material

• Clorox 360 electrostatic chemical application machines

For the traditional residence halls, the above procedure would not be implemented in an individual's room, since all students live alone with their own room and bathroom. Therefore, students who live in traditional halls will be responsible for cleaning their own rooms. If a common area of a residence hall is in question for infection, the above protocols may be enacted. 

Because students in apartments are sharing common areas like kitchens and living room, all students will be relocated for their quarantine and isolation time. The room will be cleaned with the UV-C Light machine and surfaces will also get an additional cleaning.

No, you may not request to switch residence halls. It is not necessary to switch halls, as students in quarantine/isolation may not leave their rooms. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has stated that those who had brief, casual contact with an infected individual are considered low risk. In addition, every positive case occurring on-campus (including in our residence halls) is reported to the CDPH. This allows a member of DePaul’s contact tracing team to consults with CDPH to ensure proper procedures are followed. In the unlikely event that CDPH recommends a floor or building be temporarily closed, Housing will work with each student to move them.

Yes, but only if the student is not in quarantine or isolation. We expect all on-campus residents to protect the health of the DePaul community by taking appropriate precautions while off campus, such as practicing social distancing, wearing a cloth face covering, washing or sanitizing hands often, self-monitoring for symptoms, and reporting to the university if they test positive or have been diagnosed with COVID-19.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, DePaul will require all on-campus residents to to conduct a daily self-screening of their health using the free #CampusClear app anytime they exit their unit. Based on the answer you provide to the screening question, the app will display a screen with your result:

• A "good to go" result means you may proceed to campus.

• A "you are not cleared for campus access" result means you must stay in your assigned unit, as you are displaying COVID-19 symptoms. In this case, we highly recommend contacting your healthcare provider. 

While DePaul will have a more limited on-campus presence this Fall Quarter than originally planned, campus will be slightly more open than it was in Spring Quarter and a limited number of courses will continue to meet on campus. Students may be asked to display their #CampusClear app results to a university official prior to entering a DePaul-owned or operated facility. 

Instructions for downloading and using #CampusClear are on the DePaul Health Monitoring webpage.

In keeping with the state's public health guidelines, members of the DePaul community will be expected to maintain physical distancing and to keep their nose and mouth covered at all times on both campuses. This includes but is not limited to DePaul owned or operated facilities, on DePaul property, and at all university functions or activities. For example, all individuals will maintain face coverings when walking to and from various locations on campus, in the quad and other outdoor locations, and in the residence halls (except for individual residents within their own rooms).

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health: “A face covering is a mask or cloth face-covering that is well secured and covers your nose and mouth. The face-covering should allow for breathing without restriction. There is no requirement to wear a hospital grade mask or other specific type or brand of face-covering. You may wear a homemade face-covering, provided that it fits closely and covers your nose and mouth." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers information on how to make or care for face coverings on its website.

All DePaul students, including those living on campus during Fall Quarter, have been given the DePaul Community Health and Safety Pledge. This pledge confirms students' commitment to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our campus community.

If you believe a student in your residence hall is not observing or abiding by DePaul safety standards and protocols, please let your resident advisor (RA) or a member of the Residential Education staff know. If you prefer to report anonymously, you may visit: go.depaul.edu/dos (click on the green "Report a Concern" button). 

DePaul’s Code of Student Responsibility notes that "students may not disregard a reasonable directive, either verbal or written, from a University official or office acting in their official capacity."

If students intentionally or repeatedly violate the university’s reasonable directives, they will be referred to the Student Conduct Process and may be removed from Student Housing.  

Residents who visit a travel restriction state for more than 24 hours must abide by the City of Chicago Emergency Travel Order.

On July 6, the Chicago Department of Public Health officially mandated the Emergency Travel Order, which directs travelers entering or returning to Chicago from states experiencing a surge in new COVID-19 cases to quarantine for a 14-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state. The City of Chicago will put states that are experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases on its travel quarantine list. 

If a resident violates the quarantine order, they are subject to fines of $100 - $500 per day, up to $7,000 by the City of Chicago. DePaul University is not liable for any Emergency Travel Order violation(s) made by a resident. Therefore, residents are responsible to pay their fines. The violations to the quarantine order will subject the resident to potential university sanctions that include but are not limited to removal from housing and university probation through the university conduct process. 

While the university will be implementing as many measures as possible to avoid a campus closure, we all need to be prepared for this responsibility. Should it become necessary to shut down part or all of campus and move courses online, DePaul is prepared to do so. Specifically, if the residence halls need to close, our team will be ready to assist students in moving out as quickly and safely as possible.

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On-Campus Policies & Procedures

Yes, for Lincoln Park residents, the 2020-21 Guide to Student Housing outlines policies and procedures all students must follow while living on campus. Please note that some details in this guide have changed from the previous year due to the pandemic. As COVID-19 continues to impact our daily lives, DePaul Housing and residents must be flexible and expect information to be updated in the guide throughout the course of the academic year (when necessary). 

University Center residents in the Loop may refer to the 2020-21 University Center Resident Handbook, which is maintained by Peak Campus (property management company for University Center).

Current planning and guidelines suggest that allowing guests as we begin the Fall Quarter is a risk factor we want to avoid. Therefore, guests will not be allowed in our residence halls until it is deemed safe, this includes other members of the DePaul community who do not live in a specific residence hall or on-campus apartment. We have every intention to ease this restriction as soon as we are able. For students needing a special exception for a guest who is a parent/guardian, we will have a Visitor Request Form available. 

For more information and to access the Visitor Request Form, please visit our Visitor Policies webpage.

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Community & Social Issues

We understand today’s social climate is a product of years and years of inequality and injustice, especially towards the Black community. The Departments of Housing and Residential Education do not tolerate any discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sex, disability, or other protected classes.

If any resident is subject to discrimination or harassment of any kind – physical abuse, verbal abuse, offensive innuendo, derogatory comments, or the open display of offensive objects or pictures – we encourage them or witnesses to come forward so we may take action. You may contact your Residence Director to determine next steps.

While you may consider our departments a source of support, we also acknowledge that we aren’t cross-cultural experts and the issues in our society go beyond what our university can handle. Still, here are some internal resources that can, at least, get you started:

• Office of Multicultural Student Success
• Men of Color Initiative
• University Counseling Services
• Religious Diversity & Pastoral Care
• DePaul University’s Anti-Discrimination & Anti-Harassment Policy

We are unable to host LLCs in the residence halls come Fall due to COVID-19. However, we are exploring ways for these communities to convene virtually.

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Facilities & Services

We understand that living in a safe, clean environment is important to everyone—especially our on-campus residents. DePaul promises to do its part by routinely cleaning common areas. However, we need your participation to maintain cleanliness.

Please help by keeping your assigned unit clean, as well as cleaning and disinfecting surfaces in shared spaces (i.e., lounges, kitchens, laundry rooms, and computer rooms). Cleaning/disinfecting spray or wipes are stationed inside all common areas for residents to use before leaving the space.

In addition, residents were each given a spray bottle with cleaning/disinfecting solution to clean their room. If you run low on cleaning/disinfecting solution, please visit your Area Office to refill. 

DePaul transitioned from cable TV to Philo, a streaming TV service offering access to 60+ TV channels and cloud-based DVR service. Philo remains active for the duration of your residency in campus housing, and works anywhere both on- and off-campus. Watch shows on any of your devices with Philo: phone, laptop, tablet, or even on your TV with a streaming device such as Roku, Fire TV, or another compatible streaming platform.

For more information about Philo, including how to connect your device(s), please visit our TV & Technology webpage.

We understand that many students have called Clifton-Fullerton “home” over the years. DePaul was given the opportunity to honor famous Vincentian Frédéric Ozanam in a meaningful and highly visible way, which is why we decided to change the name of Clifton-Fullerton to Ozanam Hall.

Frédéric Ozanam was a French literary scholar, lawyer, journalist, and equal rights advocate in the 1800s. Following the practices of Saint Vincent de Paul, Ozanam served the poor of Paris and drew others into serving the poor of the world. In 1833, Ozanam and a group of other young men founded the charitable Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. Today in the U.S. alone, there are approximately 100,000 lay Vincentians continuing to volunteer through visits to homes, prisons, and hospitals.

DePaul University takes this step to highlight our partnership and belonging within the international Vincentian family, which includes lay people working with Societies of Saint Vincent de Paul in service and solidarity with those most in need and extending our shared Vincentian mission all over the world.

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Dining & Meal Plans

Meal plan changes will be minor because we are confident that we can continue provide an excellent on-campus dining experience while keeping everyone safe during this unique time. Moreover, we will introduce some new features that our students will love – like mobile ordering! Click here to view 2020-2021 meal memberships. Other details to note:

• All dining locations will continue to follow the recommended CDC and Illinois State guidelines for cleaning, sanitation, and disinfection.

• All food and beverage will be served by Dining Services associates in disposable to-go packaging to reduce cross-contact and limit interaction.

• All DePaul Dining locations are cash-less and will utilize contactless ordering via the Boost Mobile app and Kiosks in dining locations.

• Dining location hours have been modified to allow proper cleaning and sanitizing of the facility in between meal periods. Grab-n-Go options will also be widely available as a quick solution.

• Additional hand sanitizer dispensers and stations will be available for increased access, as well as additional trash receptacles.

• Guests must observe the designated entrance and exits, queuing, and social distancing requirements outlined by floor decals, signage, and dining associates. All of our guests and associates will be required to wear a face mask.

• ETC convenience store will be available through Boost Mobile and guests can schedule a contactless pick-up time at their convenience.

There may be minimal or no seating to follow guidelines currently recommended by the Department of Health to ensure proper social distancing. If seating is permitted, tables in the dining hall will be available through our reservation app for 45-minute dining periods.

Lincoln Park meal memberships can be used at Big Shoulders Coffee located on the 11th floor of the DePaul Center. Their hours of operation are Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

University Center meal plans differ from the Lincoln Park Campus. Meal plans for University Center residents are used in the University Center's dining center, and your plan is loaded onto your University Center ID rather than your DePaul ID.