Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

This week’s Monday update summarizes the current status in North Carolina and at the university, offers an update on summer at Elon, and provides important information for the conclusion of the undergraduate semester.

Current status

• There have been 11,848 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of North Carolina, including 128 in Alamance County. A total of 430 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.
• The North Carolina stay-at-home executive order has been extended until this Friday, May 8. Governor Cooper has also announced a three-phase plan for reopening businesses in North Carolina. Elon employees received initial information today from Kelli Shuman, associate vice president for Human Resources, about plans for Elon employees to begin returning to work on campus over the coming weeks.

Commencement and degree conferral ceremonies

• Undergraduate seniors and their families have received information about the online Conferral Ceremony, scheduled for May 22 to honor seniors and recognize the completion of their degrees. This ceremony will not replace in-person Commencement exercises which are anticipated to be held on campus later this year on a date still to be determined.
• Additionally, the Master of Arts in Interactive Media Commencement ceremony and the Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Business Analytics Commencement ceremony have also been postponed, and online ceremonies for conferral of degrees will begin May 20.
• The Master of Arts in Higher Education ceremony will be held as planned on May 20, for the 14 members of the inaugural graduating class and streamed for family and friends.
  Information for Commencement 2020, including online degree conferral ceremonies can be found on the Commencement website.

Spring semester information for undergraduates

• Although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 on campus currently, it does not mean there may not be students who are asymptomatic or with very mild cases. In these instances the student infected may not realize they are ill or putting others in danger. We continue to urge those students returning to campus to pick up belongings in the coming weeks to follow appropriate health guidance, offered in previous communications. Most notably, we continue to recommend that students should not return to campus to reunite with friends, host gatherings, or remain on campus longer than necessary – one night at most. Information related to moving out of on-campus residences can be found on the Residence Life website here.
• 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. Barnes & Noble is offering remote textbook 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.

Summer at Elon

• Undergraduate classes for the spring semester end next Tuesday, May 12, with final exams taking place from May 13-19. The Elon Law spring trimester continues through June 16 and courses also continue in May and June for the Physician Assistant and Physical Therapy programs in the School of Health Sciences.
• Summer courses for undergraduates are all offered online, with two summer sessions taking place May 28 – June 26 and July 6 – 27. For detailed information, visit the Elon Summer 2020 website.
• Undergraduate students who need summer housing on campus need to sign up by this Friday, May 8. Summer housing will be available for either, or both, of the undergraduate summer sessions. For information, visit the Residence Life summer housing website.
• With the end of the spring undergraduate semester, meal plans will end on Wednesday morning, May 20. On that date Lakeside Dining Hall will begin operating in the typical summer mode on campus, with a retail option open for lunch Monday through Friday.
• Student Health Services will be open for clinical appointments (see here) through Friday, May 22, after which the clinic will be closed for the summer. Information for summer and after-hours care will be available on the Student Health Services website here.

Planning for Fall Semester

President Book has appointed a Task Force on Fall Semester 2020, made up of faculty, staff and students, to create a comprehensive plan to resume on-campus instruction and residence life this fall. The task force began its work immediately and formed three working groups involving many consultants from the campus community. The task force will make its recommendations by May 27. Learn more about the Task Force and follow its work at: https://www.elon.edu/u/task-force-fall-2020/.

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 11, at 2:00 p.m., unless an earlier message is warranted.

—

Dr. Jon Dooley

Vice President for Student Life