COVID-19 Updates and Guidance > FAQs > University operations

University operations

​Yes. DePaul will remain a mask-friendly campus out of concern for fellow students and colleagues, and in the spirit of Take Care DePaul. If you are joining a meeting or gathering and a participant asks you to wear a mask, please do so.
 
The community can also download a mask-friendly zone poster to hang in their dorm, office or cubicle to share their mask-wearing preference with others.

While DePaul no longer requires masks, wearing a mask indoors on campus is highly recommended. Masks will continue to be available at the first-floor desk areas near building entrances. If someone in a meeting asks you to wear a mask, please do so.

Masks are available at the first-floor desk areas near building entrances. ​

All air handlers capable of accommodating MERV-13 filters have been upgraded in DePaul buildings on both the Lincoln Park and Loop campuses.

Additionally, the percentage of outside air drawn into buildings has been increased, and the start and stop times for all building fans has been extended to ensure that any particles not trapped in filter media are diluted with fresh air to the extent po​ssible.

Any classroom or office areas in older buildings at the Lincoln Park Campus (portions of O’Connell Hall, Steans Center, select Racine Avenue offices), which do not have forced-air HVAC systems, have been supplied with standalone HEPA air purification machines. Instructions for proper use of the machines have been posted above each machine.

To proactively address the fact that groups of people will be congregating in the dining halls, and temporarily removing their masks while consuming food and beverages, the following measures have been implemented:

  • The centralized building fan system at the Lincoln Park Campus Student Center has been equipped with hospital-grade UVC disinfecting light technology meaning that all air circulated in the building is both filtered and disinfected.
  • Due to size constraints of the fan system, the Loop Campus dining hall was not able to accommodate UVC light technology. Instead, multiple, large-scale, standalone HEPA air purification machines were placed throughout the dining areas of the DePaul Center 11th floor.

From the start of the pandemic, DePaul has based our actions on guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This includes significant investments the university made to improve air quality and to promote the use of face masks and hand sanitizer.

While some aspects of DePaul's fall planning will evolve along with public health guidance, the measures currently in place as the fall term begins are detailed on the Public Health Measures webpage.

Yes. DePaul installed more than 700 hand sanitizer s​tations across both campuses at the start of the pandemic and they are regularly refilled for anyone to use.

Submit a question

If you can’t find an answer that you’re looking for, please email DePaulCommunityHealth@depaul.edu.​