Plenty to talk about

Campus is coming alive now that our students are back, and it feels great to know our Deacs are with us after such a long break. Lots to talk about today, so we’ll get right to it.

We have a new quarantine and isolation website, and I encourage you to take a look at it so you are aware of what that process looks like, and bookmark it just in case your Deac gets that call (I hope they don’t, but always good to be prepared). We learned last semester that students can feel very flustered or overwhelmed if they are told they have to quarantine or isolate, so knowing where to find information is key, as is reviewing it before you need it 🙂 There is a video at the top with quarantine and isolation basics, and we will be adding some additional videos in the next few weeks, as we know students sometimes prefer digesting content in video form rather than reading it.

The quarantine and isolation website details some of the most-requested info: information for undergraduate students on where they are able to quarantine/isolate (these changed from the fall for off-campus students), the process for going to the hotel, what to pack, hotel logistics (including food, laundry, etc.), guidelines/behavioral expectations at the hotel, how students are released from quarantine or isolation, academic support, and wellbeing support. Another change to quarantine and isolation is that the Student Health Service will send an email to students notifying of their restriction from attending in-person classes; it is the student’s responsibility to communicate with their faculty members to inform of their absence and work with them on completing assignments.

Asymptomatic testing of undergraduate students begins today, and we are testing a muuuuch bigger swath of the student body than we have in the past, since they have just returned from travel. A couple of questions have come up in the Call Center about this testing: one is about students who have tested COVID positive within the last 90 days. If a student tested positive within the past 90 days, they should not be included in testing and can submit a Reschedule Form. If their positive test is on file already, they DO NOT need to resubmit it to the Student Health Service (we already have it). They would only need to submit that positive test if it is a brand new test and they had not already sent to SHS (e.g., if they felt sick yesterday and went to a CVS to get tested and just got results, etc.)

Speaking of results, when students go to get asymptomatic tests, they are given this postcard, which has instructions on how to see results. Note that any students with a positive result will get a phone call from University staff. In the event they see a positive result after normal business hours or late at night, please tell them not to panic; a case investigator will call them as soon as they can. It will be important for them to stay in their residence, avoid contact with others, and wear a mask as they await the call from their case investigator.

We have some new students on campus now (who were not here in the fall). Any student that is new to campus this semester can visit Mail Services to obtain their mailbox number and mailbox key. Mail Services Lobby hours are Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. and Saturday, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Students who are looking for a quiet place to study or take an online class should visit the Wake Study Space website. A change this spring:  ZSR will now offer their single-occupancy carrels on demand, waiving the previous 12-hour reservation requirement (see on-demand link on Wake Study Space).

Students (and recent grads) received a message today about their 1098-T tax form; read it here.

If you helped your Deacs resettle on campus this weekend, you might have seen the welcome wagon we rolled out – balloons and staff with pom poms cheering everyone as they returned. It has been a hard year for everyone – students, faculty, staff, and families – so a little bit of extra joy was in order. And I hope your Deacs are making use of the new Fireside on Manchester. I think the propane is getting connected to the fire tables today, and my understanding is that our Facilities team will light them at 5 pm nightly and turn them off at 10.  Some pics below from the weekend and students’ return, hope you enjoy!

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)