(BEAVER FALLS, Pa.) – In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Geneva College—in partnership with Pioneer College Caterers—introduces updates to dining services after significant investments to ensure student safety and adherence to regulations and best practices for food service operations.

The safeguards put in place for the 2020-2021 academic year at Alexander Dining Hall include:

• Plexiglass corridors in the serving area to maintain six-foot distances and maximize the number of students that can be served
• Plexiglass barriers installed to prevent food contamination
• Spaced tables and limited seating to ensure safe distance while eating
• Served and prepackaged food rather than self-service options
• Disposable containers and utensils provided for takeout meals
• Additional outside seating near dining spaces to increase capacity
• Requirement for all students to wear masks while in line and moving about the serving and dining areas; masks may be removed while seated and eating
• Hand sanitizer provided at the serving area entrance

New directional signs and posted safety requirements will guide students through the building. Students will swipe their ID cards and enter the main food line or a line for prepackaged “Grab and Go” meals. The main food line splits into blue-, red- or green-coded lines with different food options indicated on posted menus. Students will make food selections and be served before finding a seat, where they are allowed to remove their masks to eat. Additional seating in the dining hall will be available in the President’s Dining Room and Benedum Room. A “seconds” line will be available for those desiring food from additional lines. To maximize seating, students are asked to limit dining time to 30 minutes or to eat in a nearby outdoor dining tent reserved for their use. Those who violate safety protocols will be required to leave.

Similar precautious are in place in the Brigadoon, Geneva’s secondary dining space. The Riverview Café also offers a dining option for students with fewer than normal tables, which are spaced widely, and physical distance required of those standing in lines.

Vice President of Business and Finance Tim Baird says, “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students. We are carefully implementing these safeguards to provide a high-value experience for students, maintaining the fellowship and community they share over meals at Geneva as best we can without compromising health and safety.”

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva’s programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance “2019 Best College Values – Private Universities” list and has a top undergraduate engineering program in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.