STUDENTS AND employees in need of safe lodging for the pilot run of on-site classes have begun checking into Eliazo Hall on February 21, according to Ateneo Residence Halls (ARH) Director Rene Salvador San Andres.

Meanwhile, Cervini Hall is used exclusively for the varsity athletes’ bubble training. San Andres shared that this setup has been in place since last month and will remain until the end of the semester.

In light of the Flex, Hybrid, and Online+ classes for the second semester, he also said that the ARH will be accommodating three types of lodging: Short-term lodging, one-month-long lodging, and full-semester lodging. With these setups, an individual can stay for one day up to a total of five months in Eliazo Hall.

The ARH began sending out acceptance letters on February 14 to the less than one hundred individuals who applied last December. That said, San Andres confirmed that the dorm application form will remain open throughout the semester for the potential short-term and month-long lodgers, as well as to gauge the demand for room slots.

Processing of applications

According to San Andres, the decision to reopen the ARH was based on the academic needs of the Loyola Schools (LS), especially for School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) students who need the laboratories, and graduating students who need to finish required courses.

Those who are eligible to stay in the dorm are fourth year or fifth year undergraduate students, as well as graduate students who are fully vaccinated and enrolled in the pilot run of face-to-face classes. Likewise, personnel endorsed by their respective offices will also be accommodated.

Besides the above-mentioned criteria, San Andres said that he and the dorm administration team also evaluated the applications based on location and priority. According to him, scholars are considered “top priority” followed by students living outside the National Capital Region when it comes to receiving room slots.

“I see the dorm as a facility in service of academic objectives. So if they need a safe space, a safe haven, to perform their academic responsibilities, we need to provide that,” he said.

Retrofitted facilities and protocols

To secure the safety of the residents, San Andres said the dormitory rooms in Cervini and Eliazo Halls went through capacity reduction. However, the LS Office of Facilities and Sustainability was still able to keep the four-bed arrangement through the use of cabinets as natural dividers.

“So now, in effect, [the] actual reduction is less than 25% because that applies only to Cervini and Eliazo. That’s six floors. In the University Dorm with two buildings and seven floors, we’re able to retain the four beds per room,” he explained.

In addition, acrylic barriers were installed in sinks and toilet areas to ensure the safe use of common toilet and bathroom facilities. Strict physical distancing rules would also be implemented in other common areas like the lobby.

Notably, the LS administration had to shoulder all dorm facility adjustments as there was no revenue from 2020 to 2021, according to San Andres.

He also emphasized that only essential trips to locations like grocery stores, banks, and drugstores would be allowed. Quarantine provisions would be implemented for dormers who would leave the dorm to spend time in their homes.

Contingency plans

In the case of a COVID outbreak inside the dorm, San Andres explained that the ARH will follow health measures, such as isolation, quarantine, monitoring, and other protocols that the University Physician would mandate.

Additionally, if the ARH is placed under lockdown with students inside, San Andres assured the implementation of strict quarantine protocols through controlled movement.

A certificate of quarantine will also be issued in coordination with the Office of Health Services in case a dormer would be traveling as the dormitories are “practically under quarantine conditions.”

On the other hand, with the reopening of the dorms, San Andres is hopeful that the Ateneo Resident Students Association (ARSA) would end its hiatus.“ Kapag may dormer na, dapat may ARSA (Once there is a dormer, there must be ARSA) because that’s the government of the students in the dorm. You have to manage yourselves so we give them that liberty,” he said.