Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee welcomed students to campus this month ahead of the start of the fall semester, including 427 freshmen and 56 transfer students.

Upperclassmen Welcome Week Workers began moving in at the beginning of the week, with new students moving in Aug. 5-6. Welcome Week activities then ran through Aug. 9, before classes began Aug. 10.

All students were given a health screening before moving into on-campus housing. New student move-in took place over two full days, with scheduled appointments from 8 a.m. in the morning to 8 p.m. in the evening, to maintain physical distancing. Students attended new student orientation on the evening they moved in, effectively dividing the group in half and safely reducing the number of students inside Raley Chapel’s Potter Auditorium.

It marked the return of students to the campus for the first time since mid-March, when the university transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All students and employees are subject to daily temperature checks and health screenings at various locations throughout campus before attending class or going to work. Face coverings are required at all times on campus when indoors and also when outdoors where physical distancing is not possible.

Additional precautionary measures include a transition to online chapel delivery, classroom spaces being adjusted to accommodate physical distancing during classes, limited entry points to most buildings, and additional cleaning cycles for various on-campus services, including the cafeteria and the RAWC.