University of Michigan cancels housing contracts for winter term, urges students not to return to campus

The University of Michigan’s plans for the winter semester call for fewer undergraduate students living on the Ann Arbor campus, more remote learning and more Covid-19 testing options.

The Ann Arbor News reports that the Winter 2021 plan states that undergraduate students who don’t need to live on campus should remain at their permanent residence to reduce density in university student housing.

As a result, all housing contracts for undergraduate residents will be canceled for the winter semester.

“We know that asking students to leave their residence halls in the middle of the year is disappointing and disruptive, and we apologize for that,”  Vice President for Student Life Martino Harmon says. “The community created within a residence hall is an important part of the college experience, but safety has to come first.”

The university will reduce undergraduate housing density through a process that limits access only to undergraduates with certain need-based criteria.

Undergraduates who need to remain on campus for the winter semester can request housing based on health status, wellness or safety concerns, financial need, specific academic need, status as international students or house student employees, or other extraordinary circumstances.

Undergraduate housing will be assigned one person per room, following public health recommendations.

The plan also includes mandatory weekly Covid-19 testing for undergraduate students living, learning, working or doing research in person on the Ann Arbor campus. The plan also includes increases in asymptomatic testing for all members of the campus community, and new measures to support mental health and well-being.

Instructors will be able to use the format they believe is most appropriate. The university says that no instructors will be required to teach in-person if they prefer not to.

Students returning to campus in the winter will encounter a strict, no-tolerance approach to enforcing Covid-19-related policies. Depending on the violation, penalties will include automatic probation, university housing contract termination and removing university recognition for student organizations hosting or participating in social gatherings.