Update from Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley
April 27, 2020

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

This week’s Monday update summarizes the current status in North Carolina and at the university, provides an update on future planning efforts, and provides important student information for the spring semester.

Current status

  • There have been 9,142 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of North Carolina, including 91 in Alamance County. A total of 306 COVID-19-related deaths have been reported in the state.
  • There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Elon students, faculty, or staff who have been on campus during a possible period of contagion. The university will continue to report positive cases in accordance with county, state, national and international guidelines. Students on campus or in the area with symptoms that may indicate COVID-19 will be referred for testing using county and state protocols and may be advised to self-isolate to protect the health and safety of the community.
  • Last Thursday, Governor Cooper announced an extension of the North Carolina stay-at-home executive order until May 8, and he also announced a three-phase plan for reopening businesses in the state of North Carolina.

Planning for the future

In addition to the efforts of the Emergency Operations Center, President Connie Book has tasked two additional committees to create plans for the anticipated return to campus. A committee chaired by Dr. Jeff Stein and Associate Vice-President Kelli Shuman are working to establish policies and protocols for employees to return to campus in the coming weeks in conjunction with Governor Cooper’s executive orders.

Additionally, President Book has created a Task Force on Fall Semester 2020 and asked President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert to chair that effort. The committee began meeting last week and established three working groups to address the arrival of students in the fall:

  • Instruction and the Classroom, Lab and Studio
  • Health and Safety
  • The Campus Experience, Alumni, and External Communities

The task force will be recommending several options to President Book for the university to “return this fall to Elon’s engaged and personal approach to teaching and learning as we implement significant modifications of the campus environment, daily operations and personal practices.” Watch Elon’s coronavirus website for a link to the Task Force website, where you can contribute suggestions and ideas to support this important work.

Information for undergraduates moving out of on-campus or off-campus housing

As students return to campus to pick up belongings in the coming weeks, we urge everyone to follow appropriate public health guidance, to protect the health and safety of university employees, students who are still on campus and others who are moving out. This includes the following:

  • Do not travel to campus if you are feeling ill.
  • Practice physical distancing and do not plan to reunite with friends, host gatherings or remain on campus longer than necessary. (State and local orders currently prohibit all public or private gatherings of more than ten people and are being actively enforced.)
  • Wear a mask and practice good hygiene, including frequent hand washing or use of hand sanitizer.
  • Clean and disinfect surfaces, door handles, etc. when moving out.
  • Limit the number of individuals coming with you to assist with move-out and plan to make only one trip to campus to do so.
  • Roommates should coordinate their move-out to occur at different times so that proper physical distancing measures can be observed.

Information related to moving out of on-campus residences can be found on the Residence Life website here.

Celebration of undergraduate research

This is the week of the semester we normally celebrate undergraduate research at the university. Although we won’t be able to gather for SURF Day, this week the university will launch a new web page to showcase the groundbreaking research that Elon students and their mentors are undertaking. Students from a wide range of disciplines have submitted posters, videos and other content highlighting their research projects and what participating in undergraduate research has meant to them. Watch for a link to the page on the Today at Elon website.

Upcoming dates and deadlines for undergraduate global engagement programs

The Global Education Center has the following upcoming deadlines:

The Elon Global annual photo and video contest is now accepting submissions through Sunday, May 3! All of this year’s prizes — include two $350 flight vouchers — are donated. Plus, we’ve introduced new categories and more ways to win. Learn more from the Elon Global photo and video contest page.

Questions? Chat the Global Engagement Center staff from any elon.edu/global webpage during business hours, or email global@elon.edu.

Information about textbook rentals and textbook buyback

  • Textbook Rentals – The due date for spring textbooks rentals has been extended to June 15. Please visit the Elon Bookstore website here to generate a FREE return label to ship rentals back to the bookstore. The form will expire after the June 15 due date. The final charge date for non-returned rental fees will be August 25.
  • Textbook Buyback – Barnes & Noble is offering remote buyback for students to sell back non-rented textbooks at the end of the semester. A FREE shipping label is included. The link can be located on the bookstore website or directly linked here.
  • Be sure to contact Carly Mayer, Bookstore Manager, with any questions at cmayer4@elon.edu.

Sources of information

We continue to recommend the following sources for those seeking more information about the coronavirus pandemic and the university response:

The coronavirus website maintained jointly by several federal agencies: https://www.coronavirus.gov/

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services with information about the state-level response to COVID-19: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/public-health/covid19

The special Elon University coronavirus website with archived copies of previous messages to the community and regularly-updated information about the university response: https://www.elon.edu/coronavirus

The Today at Elon website with news and information from across the university, featuring important updates and stories about Elon students, faculty, staff and alumni: https://www.elon.edu/u/news/

Facilities and services at Elon

  • Elon facilities remain closed to walk-in traffic, and most services are operating remotely or by appointment. Faculty and staff members are working remotely, unless they are providing essential services for the campus and the students who were unable to leave due to personal circumstances.
  • Essential services available on campus continue to include to-go meals at Lakeside Dining Hall (hours and menu here), Student Health Services (hours and appointment information here), Faculty/Staff Health & Wellness Clinic (hours and appointment information here), Moseley Center and Mail Services (Monday-Friday, 10 am – 2 pm), and two computer labs (Alamance 315 and Steers Pavilion) available by card access from 6 am – midnight.

**The next community-wide email update will be sent next Monday afternoon, May 4, at 2:00 p.m., unless an earlier message is warranted. **

—

Dr. Jon Dooley

Vice President for Student Life

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