Loyola is merging the School of Music Industry with the School of Music and Theater Arts, according to an email from Jeff Albert, director of the School of Music Industry and the School of Music and Theater Arts.

The merger process will take place over the next year according to Albert. The purpose of the merger is to alleviate scheduling issues with practice rooms and instrument rentals.

Albert also announced new COVID-19 guidelines for ensembles and musical creation. Overall performance has a higher risk of spreading COVID-19 than other classroom activities due to their higher rate of aerosol generation, as directed.

“All people participating in group music creation must provide proof that they are fully vaccinated or a negative COVID test taken no more than 72 hours before participating in music creation activities,” according to the guidelines.

The new guidelines also impose specific instrument cleaning practices, indoor masking and social distancing. These guidelines come after Loyola encouraged teachers to create courses seating plans to assist with contact tracing and announced plans for publication date students who do not update their immunization status since their fall classes.