03/16/2020
Read this message from Provost Robel concerning students living on campus. Check your IU email daily this week to be informed of developing processes.
View online.
Indiana University Bloomington
SENT ON BEHALF OF PROVOST ROBEL
March 15, 2020
Dear IU Residential Housing Students,
Please read to the end of this message to ensure you have the information you need.
This is a difficult, anxious, and shocking time for us all. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and a declared national emergency. Since January, Indiana University has sought to respond to this pandemic through seeking and following the best guidance possible from our peers at leading research institutions, our own experts on public health, and federal and local authorities.
As you know from President McRobbie’s message, Indiana University is taking immediate and almost unprecedented actions to protect the health and safety of the IU Community. IU will suspend in-person learning through the end of the semester, and is extending spring break by one week (March 23), so that students and faculty can prepare for a longer period of remote learning. Our immediate focus is on preparing to do this as well as we can so your academic progress is not disrupted.
This public health crisis carries major implications for our residence halls and IU-controlled off-campus housing. After careful and painful analysis, we cannot maintain residential living in a way that permits us to also comply with all current public-health guidance.
Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we announce new guidance for our students in IU–controlled residence halls and off-campus housing. Actions to protect the public health require sacrifice and grace on all of our parts. What one does affects us all. We Hoosiers know how to help each other, and I am counting on all of you to be your best selves.
At the same time, I recognize, as do your faculty and all our staff, that this emergency has seriously disrupted your college experience. We understand how deeply disappointing this is to you, and how different this is from the semester we all expected to occur. I am so sorry that this public-health crisis is having this impact on your IU experience.
Below please see IU’s guidance for our residential students:
1. If You Have Already Left Bloomington and Are Able to Remain Where You Are, Please Do So. Do Not Return to Bloomington.
Please do not return to Bloomington at this time if you have another place to live for the remainder of the semester.
2. If You Are Still on Campus and Can Do So, Please Return to your Permanent Home.
We need to get everyone who has another place to go out of IU-controlled housing by March 20. Working with students who are currently still in Bloomington is our first and highest priority for RPS staff.
3. If you have no place to go, file a Petition to Stay.
If you do not have a permanent residence outside of your residence hall or IU-controlled housing, or cannot return to your home country, and need to petition to stay on campus during the shift to remote learning, we will provide a link by Tuesday to allow you to petition to stay.
4. If You Need Items Left in the Residence Halls that are Essential, We Will send a link by Wednesday to get your essential items.
Essential items include medically-necessary items and items needed to complete course work, like books and computers. We will make arrangements to ship those items to you.
5. To move out (retrieve all the Items) from your Residence Halls or IU-Controlled Housing, Please Make an Appointment.
By Thursday, we will provide you with a web link to make an appointment to move out (pick up all the items). You do not need to rush to move out if you are already not in the residence hall. We will protect your items until you come.
Making appointments to move out will enable our residential life professionals to ensure both an orderly process and a process that enables social distancing in the interest of public health. Please honor the process. Please remember how challenging this is for our residential life and student life professionals, who were looking forward to working with all of you during the remainder of the spring semester, and be kind.
6. Room and Meal Plan Account Adjustments
IU is acutely aware that students and families have already paid for room and board that they will not be able to use. Adjustments for room and meal plans will take into consideration financial aid guidelines. We are working through this process, and additional information will be forthcoming.
Also, please know that decisions regarding reimbursement are not tied to move out from the residence halls. In other words, if you leave your personal items on campus for the next few months, that will not impact your reimbursement.
All of us at IU understand how hard this is. This is difficult – indeed, painful – for all of us who are not only concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on our most vulnerable populations, but also concerned about the pandemic’s impact on our students’ goals, dreams, and daily lives. I am grateful to be part of a community that cares deeply about every member, and I know that we will all work together to make this transition with care and compassion. We will communicate with you as much as possible in the coming weeks.
Yours,
Lauren Robel
Provost and Executive Vice President
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