COVID-19 isolation housing at Stony Island Hall has been discontinued for winter quarter, and students will now be directed to isolate in place if they test positive, according to an email from Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Associate Dean of the College Richard Mason sent on November 30 of last year.

Previously, students who tested positive for COVID-19 were moved to isolation housing at Stony Island Hall, a former dormitory building located at 5700 South Stony Island Avenue. The building closed as a dorm after the 2019–20 academic year in conjunction with the opening of Woodlawn Residential Commons in September 2020, but it remains under University ownership.

The email provided multiple reasons for the change, including guidance from both UChicago Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control.

“The experience at UChicago and many of our peers indicates that isolation-in-place helps limit the spread of COVID-19 while causing a minimum of disruption for students,” Mason’s email read. Residential students who test positive for COVID-19 are directed to isolate in place in their assigned room for the period of their infection.

“Arrangements have been made with nearby hotels for roommates to be relocated if they wish and as space allows, at no extra expense, during the period of their roommate’s isolation,” the email said.

Detailed instruction on how to request such housing will be made available when the initial positive test is reported. This option is not available to residents who share an apartment or suite but not a bedroom with the infected student.

Students who test positive should email both isolationhousing@uchicago.edu to receive instruction for their isolation and C19healthreport@uchicago.edu to inform the University’s contact tracing team of their name and student ID number.