Ready for you at TU: What to expect when you return to campus

August 11, 2020

Since mid-March, the Towson University campus has been more noticeably quiet. Students and professors moved to a distance learning model and much of TU's staff has been working from home. Still, the goal was always a "Return to TU."

Various offices and departments throughout the university have been working throughout the spring and summer to prepare TU for a new era.

Now, it's finally happening and TU is ready for you this fall. Learn how widespread the effort was to prepare for this moment.

Safety is shared

The fall term begins Aug. 24 with hybrid course delivery, allowing for fully remote learning as well as a combination of in-person and remote learning. Approximately 85% of instruction will be delivered remotely. Get an inside look at what to expect from the hybrid model.

With a capacity to do 700 tests per day, the TU Health Center staff has performed more than 1,600 tests in the last month and a half.

Meanwhile, the staff of the Office of Public Safety created sanitizing stations, kept construction ongoing and the campus safe over the summer.

A familiar campus, but different

Instead of a single weekend, move-in is taking place over 10 days from August 13-23. Students have scheduled the date and time they will move in and have a two-hour window to complete their move-in assignment.

With students getting ready to come back to campus for the fall academic term, Housing and Residence Life (HRL) is taking every precaution to make sure students feel safe.

While most people left campus in March, a dedicated team of facilities and ABM Janitorial Services staff jumped into action. One important step was measuring campus buildings to determine room capacities and traffic flow according to CDC guidelines. An unprecedented situation called for unprecedented collaboration across departments, and even institutions.

Making adjustments

The Financial Services team has been busy throughout the summer. Because TU switched to a distance learning model in the spring 2020 term, TU issued prorated refunds for a variety of fees.

Julie Hall, supervisor of the accounts payable department, and her team partnered with the Bursar’s Office to process more than 20,000 student refunds and send them to the State of Maryland Department of Budget and Management in Annapolis.

Meanwhile, the post office remained open Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the spring and summer, operating with extended hours during the weeks following residential moveout to allow for students and staff to pick up their packages. 

In preparation for the fall term, the post office team reorganized the post office to maximize space for physical distancing of both staff and patrons. The TU community should expect modified procedures to limit direct interactions, 

As the fall term approaches, UStore staff has been encouraging students to reserve textbooks online to pick up later or have them delivered rather than coming in to browse, to keep lines from growing too long. The UStore will have a maximum capacity of 75 people when it reopens because of social distancing measures.