As of Jan. 11, the boil advisories in Greater Richmond have been lifted. Click here for an explainer on flushing your pipes after a boil advisory.
While Richmond-area colleges haven’t resumed classes yet, the week before a semester starts is typically a busy one for in-person advising appointments, class changes, registration and more.
But schools like J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College have had to make a few changes to the schedule due to the dayslong water outage and various boil notices in Greater Richmond.
The college’s two Richmond campuses were closed Monday and Tuesday because of the storm, and again on Wednesday because of the water outage. That was also the case at Richmond’s Virginia Union University.
Reynolds communications director Joe Schilling told VPM News in an interview that the reason they closed Wednesday was the lack of water pressure — which meant toilets couldn’t flush and the downtown campus’ boiler heating system couldn’t function.
Schilling said Reynolds followed guidance from the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management when making the decision to reopen Thursday, once water pressure had returned.
“It was important for us to reopen our doors as quickly as possible, because students really need that kind of one-on-one touch to make sure that they're set up for success when we do start classes next week,” he said.
Even when the Richmond campuses closed Wednesday, Schilling said additional virtual advising appointments were available. The school also provided more in-person advising at the college’s Parham Road campus in Henrico County, which is on the GRTC bus line.
“Our big concern is we have a lot of new students start every semester, because we have rolling admissions,” Schilling added. “We want to ensure those students are being properly advised in selecting the right classes, and they're making sure they're getting the maximum financial aid they're entitled to. And you know, a lot of that happens in a face-to-face setting.”
Until the boil notices are lifted for the city and Henrico County, Schilling said there are changes at all three campuses: taped-off water fountains and bottle refilling stations, and deployments of some of the school’s “COVID-era stash” of hand sanitizer. (Virginia Department of Health and DHRM guidance advise it’s OK to wash hands with tap water and use hand sanitizer afterward.)
“We're really proud of our facilities team,” Schilling said. “They've been working around the clock to make sure that we can safely open our campuses and be ready for students next week.”
Virginia Commonwealth University also delayed the dorm move-in date for many students to noon Sunday — just before classes are set to begin Monday.
The university, which runs on city water, is urging all students, including upperclassmen, to delay their return until Jan. 12.
“We will monitor the water restoration process and impending weather and will send updates as necessary,” the update stated Friday morning.
A VCU spokesperson wasn’t immediately available to answer questions about the delayed dorm move-in and campus response amid the water outage.
Meanwhile, the University of Richmond’s dorm move-in following winter break is slated to continue as normal Friday and through the weekend amid Henrico County’s boil advisory.
According to UR spokesperson Sunni Brown, some students are expected to start moving in Friday at noon with more throughout the weekend. Roughly 300 students remained on campus over winter break.
“We expect most of our residential population to move in on Sunday ahead of the fist day of classes,” Brown told VPM News in an email.
There are multiple locations on UR’s campus where bottled water is available for students and staff until the boil water advisory is lifted.
