Dear Students,
I thank you for your patience as our reopening plan evolves rapidly during the COVID-19 public health crisis. The continuing increase in COVID cases across the country and heightened domestic and international travel restrictions have required a daily — at times hourly — re-evaluation of our campus move-in plans. We know that there have been delays in our communications to you and understand this has been frustrating and has impacted your ability to finalize your plans for fall semester. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, which is due to the unprecedented and dynamic circumstances this global pandemic presents. We pledge to you that everything we are doing is toward creating the safest possible environment on campus, and toward making the fall semester start as smoothly as possible. Classes will still begin as planned on August 31 for all students, and your professors are all excited to begin coursework with you. We are looking forward to you joining us for the start of the academic year, whether you plan to live and learn on campus or remotely.
The increase of cases in different areas of the country, and almost daily changes in availability of testing, have led us to update our move-in to a phased plan that includes high-accuracy PCR testing for COVID-19 to screen all students upon arrival and for continued monitoring during the fall semester. These tests are done by nasal swab with results returned within 48 hours, allowing us to identify and isolate cases of asymptomatic infection before in-person classes begin. Campus move-in will now begin August 20, and students will be contacted in the next two days with definitive details about their scheduled move-in date and process. Please wait for further details before finalizing your travel plans, because move-in slots will be scheduled to provide spacing among residence halls. We also know that there are special circumstances for some of our international students, and we will be reaching out to those students separately.
All students will be required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival. Students who test positive for COVID-19 will be moved to isolation housing, where they will have regular check-ins by health professionals and will be provided with food and other necessities until they recover. We all need to work together and responsibly on robust preventative measures, and we are looking to you to play an essential, active role in keeping our community safe. As circumstances evolve, our plans may continue to evolve as well.
We anticipate you will have questions and so we have arranged a Zoom meeting for students and families on Monday, August 10, from 7 to 8 pm (EDT). The link for joining the call will be sent tomorrow. We also encourage you to refer to our COVID-19 Plans & Resources site for details and updates.
With best wishes,
President Hilary L. Link