Story by: Danielle Lee

The University of Montevallo’s Housing and Residence Life is changing its visitation policy for on-campus housing for the upcoming semester.

Starting Sunday Nov. 29, Housing and Residence Life is allowing visitation between residence halls for on-campus students.

This policy will be in place for the remainder of the fall semester and will continue into the spring, unless the campus sees a surge in cases.

Savannah Crenshaw, Residence Life Coordinator at the University, hopes the new policy will protect students while still letting them have the social aspect of on-campus living.

“Our first priority is student safety but it’s also the mental health of the students, and I know a lot of people were feeling isolated and secluded,” she said.

Sav Roys, a junior resident in New Hall, believes many on-campus students were affected by the earlier, more restrictive visitation policy.

“I haven’t been very impacted by it since I do have three other roommates, but I know people that live in Brooke or Lund or Peck have felt a little more impacted because it’s just them and their roommates,” she said.

Students and faculty alike have faced many challenges due to COVID-19.

Crenshaw said one of the biggest challenges for Housing and Residence Life this semester has been trying to find a balance between being social and safe. “It’s always been one of our main goals to have the halls be a social and welcoming place,” she said.

Violating the new policy will be both a visitation and COVID-19 guidelines violation. Students could lose visitation privileges for the rest of the fall semester and for spring semester.

Housing and Residence Life’s other COVID-19 guidelines include limiting capacity in rooms and requiring masks for residents outside of their rooms.

Student Conduct is handling all COVID-19 violations, and breaking the guidelines could result in fines, educational sanctions and removal from housing.

This graphic shows potential consequences for violating certain University of Montevallo COVID-19 guidelines. Credit: @umhousing on Instagram

Visitation capacity is still limited to four students in a room or eight in a New Hall suite. All roommates must agree to visitors in their room.

Visitation hours are noon to midnight Sunday through Thursday and noon to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Students should regularly check their university emails for further updates on important COVID-19 information. They can also follow Housing and Residence Life on Instagram @umhousing for housing updates and information.