Keene State College released new travel requirements for members of the Keene State community who plan on travelling for personal reasons amid the COVID-19 pandemic this semester.
Students who decide to travel this semester are required to fill out a travel registration form as of September 9.
In an email sent to students, Keene State President Melinda Treadwell said the college’s goal is to maintain vigilance regarding potential areas of concern for travel so that they might best support students and the community’s safety.
“We encourage you to stay in Keene this semester to limit potential exposure to COVID-19 until you return home for Thanksgiving Break,” Treadwell said in the email. “However, if you must return home for an appointment or other necessary reasons, you will need to fill out this form before you leave.”
The president’s email also highlights that those who decide to travel outside of New England States consisting of Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island will be required to quarantine and remain outside of campus buildings for 14 days upon returning to New Hampshire. Treadwell added that this is per the NH governor’s orders.
The purpose of this travel form is to aid in contact tracing, should a student test positive for COVID-19.
“If students travel out of town on weekends and they test positive it will help us notify state contact tracing,” Treadwell said.
Treadwell added that she hopes these new travel requirements will keep students on campus this semester. “Our incident rates on campus have been fantastic,” Treadwell said. “I hope students will recognize that this can all change in five days. I keep hearing from students that they love it here and that they want to be here. This is what it takes. A trip home for the weekend is something I hope they reconsider so that we can keep a clean environment.”
Treadwell also added that the purpose of the form isn’t to restrict the travel of students, but rather it is a tool to help the college be more aware of student’s whereabouts. “It’s not about ‘no travelling,’ it’s just so that we know where you are,” Treadwell said.
Students who are planning on travelling can find the KSC Travel Registration Form here:
https://personnelfile.wufoo.com/forms/x1cp0is70rpta10/
Hunter Oberst can be contacted at
news@kscequinox.com
