Campus Updates

Arrival Day Testing – Spring 2021

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Dear students,

We are looking forward to seeing many of you back in Middletown this week! As you work through your final preparations to return to campus, I write with important information on testing.

As you know, all students are required to take a COVID-19 PCR test within 5–7 days before leaving home and upload a negative test result to WesPortal. This is an important step to keep the campus community safe as people are returning for the second semester. We understand that some students have encountered difficulty with their test as a result of the winter weather. For those who are unable to get a pre-arrival PCR test result, at this point a rapid antigen test will suffice. In addition, Wesleyan will have limited capacity to administer a rapid COVID-19 test in addition to the required PCR test upon arrival.

If you find yourself without a test result prior to leaving home, please plan to arrive on campus at the time of your scheduled arrival test appointment and you will be directed to the West Dining wing in Usdan where you will first be directed to take a rapid test. If it is negative, you will go to Fayerweather to take a PCR test, and then will be directed to pick up the key to your residence. If the rapid test is positive, you will still take a PCR test but will need to immediately enter isolation for 10 days (per CDC guidance). More information on testing and isolation is available on the Keep Wes Safe website.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation as we all work together toward a safe start to the semester.

 

Sincerely,

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee

Preparing for Student Move-In

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Dear students,

With the start of spring semester nearly upon us, I write with an update from Middletown, where the campus is freshly blanketed in snow.

We have been preparing for student move-in, which will take place February 5–8. After consulting with public health officials and carefully reviewing and refining our health and safety protocols, we believe we have a clear plan for students to safely return to campus. As always, we will rely on all students, faculty, and staff to do their part in following safety guidelines at all times to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Because the COVID positivity rate in Connecticut and across the United States is higher than when we began the fall, we will need everyone’s renewed attention as we begin the semester. Students should read the updated COVID Code of Conduct for spring, and acknowledge it in WesPortal, where it is posted as an alert. Students will also need to upload a negative result from their pre-arrival COVID test in WesPortal.

I strongly encourage everyone to review this checklist to Prepare for Arrival. Additional information on move-in and the beginning of the semester can be found on the Residential Life website.

All students must quarantine for two weeks after arriving on campus. We will observe an initial state-mandated, campus-wide quarantine period that will last through the end of the day on February 21. Because the period after arrival poses the highest risk for students to be asymptomatic carriers of the virus, the success of our semester will depend on all students taking the quarantine measures seriously. Beginning February 9 and through the end of the quarantine, students will take all classes online.

More information on campus health and safety during COVID-19 can be found on the Keep Wes Safe website. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee

2021 Diploma Name System Open

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To:   Candidates for Bachelor of Arts Degree
From:  Rosie Villard, Administrative Assistant V, Office of the Registrar

To ensure that your full legal name is spelled correctly on your diploma, we are asking you to confirm your diploma name.  Please confirm your name as soon as possible.

In your WesPortal under ‘My Information’ click on Diploma Name and Address. The name that we currently have on file will be displayed on this page.  If your name is correct, please click on Confirm/Update button at the bottom of the page.  If your name is not correct, please make any necessary corrections before selecting the Confirm/Update button.

Please note that you will only be able to update your name once per day – if you confirm your name in error, you will need to return to the page the following day to make any corrections.

If your name contains special characters or accents, please confirm the spelling of your name without the characters or accents.  In order to make sure that the special characters or accents appear correctly on your diploma, you will be asked to link to the Special Character Diploma Name Confirmation form and send it to the Registrar’s Office.

To make a correction to your legal name for all other university records, you will need to send a form of legal identification (birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, or legal name change document if your name has been legally changed) to the Registrar’s Office.

The diploma name system will close on Sunday, April 18th at 11:59pm.

Housing Assignments Are Now Visible – 1/15

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Dear Students,

Housing assignments are now visible in your wesportal.  We encourage you to take a moment to review your assignment, even if you were on campus in the fall, as there may have been changes in your roommates if a vacancy existed.

Room changes will not begin until two weeks after the first day of classes.  There currently are no vacancies in High or Low Rise apartments, but they may develop later this semester.

Please email Residential Life at reslife@wesleyan.edu if you have any questions.  Please note that the office will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

Students may return to campus between Friday, February 5 and Monday February 8.  You will not sign up for a move in timeslot this semester, only a testing appointment.  Please plan to arrive on campus at that time.  You will receive your key after being tested.

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus!  Travel safely.

Sincerely,

Fran Koerting
Associate Dean of Students/Director of Residential Life

Preparing to Return to Campus for Spring 2021

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This is a repost of the message sent to the study body on January 14, 2021 by Dean Culliton.

Dear students,

Happy New Year! I hope this note finds you well, and that you have been enjoying a restful break. I write today with important information regarding our plans for the spring semester.

Members of the University community are very much looking forward to having students back in Middletown. Our experience in the fall allowed us to test and fine-tune our safety processes and protocols, and we feel confident that we have strong systems in place to limit the spread of COVID on campus. It will require all of us to be diligent in order to keep Wesleyan safe.

However, we are also mindful of the high levels of COVID spread in many parts of the country, and worrying news about new variants of the virus. Our plan remains to begin the spring semester in early February, with students permitted to return to campus beginning February 5, and spring semester classes starting February 9. We will alert you immediately if we determine that health conditions necessitate adjusting this schedule.

As a reminder, spring semester will once again begin with an initial two-week period of campus-wide quarantine and online instruction to comply with the State of Connecticut’s requirements.

Below is a checklist of important steps all students must take before returning to campus. Please read these steps carefully to ensure you are prepared.

  1. Beginning on January 22 until you return to campus, we ask students to limit exposure to others (quarantine at home), and especially to avoid large groups of people.
  2. All students will need to receive a negative COVID test result from a PCR test taken within five days prior to leaving home. Students will be directed to upload test results to WesPortal and have a copy upon return to campus. If you receive a positive result, do not come to campus. Recover at home and alert the Davison Health Center.
  3. If you have been in close contact with anyone with COVID or COVID-like symptoms please contact the Davison Health Center and delay your arrival on campus until at least 14 days after your close contact.
  4. Any student who did not get a flu shot on campus this fall is required to send proof that they have received a flu shot off-campus to healthforms@wesleyan.edu by January 20.
  5. Prior to leaving home, you must schedule your arrival COVID test appointment online. This appointment must be your first stop upon arriving to campus. Unlike the fall semester, you must use the app to schedule your COVID test and the number of available tests each hour is limited to reduce density as students move in. You will receive your residential keys after being tested on campus. For students travelling by plane with late arrival times, please contact reslife@wesleyan.edu with information about your travel day and time to secure a later time slot.
  6. Students who were not on campus in the fall semester must electronically sign a testing waiver for the Broad Institute and Wesleyan. These students can find waivers in their WesPortal beginning the last week of January.

I will continue to communicate with you in the weeks to come, including regarding updates to the COVID Code of Conduct for spring term. Information about campus health and safety during COVID can always be found on the Keep Wes Safe website.

Enjoy the remainder of your break, and I look forward to seeing you back on campus next month!

Sincerely,

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee

Public Health Update – December 4, 2020

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To the Wesleyan Community:

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving, though I’m sure many of your celebrations looked quite different than usual. The holiday offered us a time to reflect on the blessings we have even during a difficult period, especially for those who have suffered hardship and significant losses during this past year.

At this point, all but about 300 students have left campus for the short time remaining in the semester; this number will drop to about 150 at the start winter recess. I had the opportunity to check in with our students who were in isolation and quarantine on Thanksgiving Day. Their positivity and gratitude to enjoy a meal and to be able to visit virtually with family was inspiring.

Speaking of positivity and gratitude, I—like everyone, I’m sure—have been feeling buoyed by all the encouraging news coming out recently about vaccines for COVID-19. It appears that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is likely to give Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to both Pfizer and Moderna for the vaccines they have developed, and that other pharmaceutical companies may not be far behind with their own vaccines. So far these vaccines boast a 90-95% efficacy (typically current vaccines for other illnesses have much lower efficacies), and appear to be safe overall with minimal side effects (such as headache, muscle aches, fever, and fatigue). If approved, these would be the first vaccines to use a synthetic messenger-RNA (mRNA) that when injected into the body “teaches” our cells to produce the spike protein that covers the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Our immune system then identifies this as a foreign invader and produces antibodies to protect us. There is no risk in getting COVID-19 from this type of immunization.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to listen in on a meeting at which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) began the process of prioritization for distributing the vaccines. As you may have read in the news, they determined that phase one of vaccination would include all healthcare professionals, as well as residents of long-term care facilities, with skilled nursing homes being the highest priority. These groups comprise approximately 24 million people. By the end of December, 40 million doses of vaccine should be available, with 5 to 10 million doses produced per week thereafter. Because the vaccination series involves two injections given three weeks apart, the number of people who can be vaccinated can be calculated by cutting the numbers of doses in half.

The next priority groups will be determined in future meetings, and it is predicted that essential workers, those aged 65 and older, and those with high-risk medical conditions will be in the following phases. Young, healthy people who are neither healthcare nor essential workers—which describes most, though not all, of our students at Wesleyan—will most likely be able to get the vaccine in the spring. We are in the early stages of discussing plans related to the vaccines, and will share more information as it becomes available.

This is all great news, but it’s important that we don’t let our guard down now. In fact, cases are surging in many parts of the country and health officials are deeply concerned that travel and gatherings related to the holidays may make the situation worse. So please, continue to wear your face masks, keep your distance, and enjoy your friends and family virtually—or at least at a safe distance—for now.

In closing, I have two quick reminders for students: Any student who did not get a flu shot on campus (at campus clinics or the Davison Health Center) this fall is required to send proof that they have received a flu shot off-campus to healthforms@wesleyan.edu by January 20, 2021. In addition, any student who is diagnosed with COVID-19 over winter break is asked to submit their positive lab result to the Davison Health Center at healthforms@wesleyan.edu. This will assist us with managing testing for these individuals after they return to campus.

Be well,

Tom McLarney, MD

Additional Closing Information

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Please note the following corrections to the information from the sustainability office in the email you recently received about closing.

1. The mention to remove all your belongings was incorrect. Students who are returning to the same assignment do not need to remove everything, although it does need to be neatly put away in dressers/drawers/closets.

2. Composting: Students who are returning to campus next semester should empty their bucket or jar in the nearest black bin, wash it out, and leave it slightly ajar in their residence or on a covered porch, if they have one. Students who are not returning can leave their bin next to an outdoor black bin to be picked up. Students in dorms who are not returning can leave their emptied and washed compost jars next to the compost bin in the building.

Please also note that all computer labs, with the exception of ST lab and HAS lab, have been closed until February. ST lab and HAS lab are open, at their reduced COVID capacities, 24/7.

Remember to check the Residential Life website for additional information about preparing to leave campus and to TURN IN YOUR KEYS.

COVID Testing 11/20 – 11/24

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Reminder, the COVID testing site closes at 2:45PM today (11/20).

Monday November 23, testing will be available between 10AM and 6 PM.

Tuesday November 24, testing will be available between 7AM and 2:45PM.

For those of you leaving campus, please see the Residential Life website for additional information about preparing to leave campus and remember to TURN  IN YOUR KEYS to Residential Life.

 

 

Reminder: Housing Closes on 11/25 at 12:00 PM, EST

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This a repost of the message sent to students by Kieran Duffy on November 19th.

Good Evening,

As a reminder, housing is closing on 11/25/20 at 12:00 PM (EST). Residential Life staff will begin checking spaces on campus starting at 10:00 am that morning. Please be advised that you should plan on completing the closing checklist for your space prior to leaving campus.

Students must return keys prior to leaving campus and by 11/25 at 12:00 pm unless approved for a petition request to remain on campus past that date and time. Keys may be deposited in the key drop boxes located around campus at the following locations: Outside of North College, Exeley Science Center Parking Lot (Lawn Avenue side), and Admissions Parking Lot. Please review the closing information on our website if you have not already done so: Residential Life Closing Info Page.

Please be prepared for staff to be in the buildings, ensure that you are wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing while walking through the hallway.

The Resource Center will be open next week Monday – Friday (except Thanksgiving day) from 11 am – 5 pm, and will be accepting donations of any useable, shelf-stable foods. As a reminder, the upcoming break is longer than usual, so you may want to consider donating food items that you don’t want to bring home with you.

Additionally, Waste Not will be collecting selected reusable items, please see the following information regarding Waste Not:

Room Condition
You can avoid incurring additional charges by doing the following:
Remove all personal belongings, recycling, compost, and trash. (Remember, this may take time – plan accordingly!). Please bring garbage to the dumpsters, recycling to the recycling bins, and take out any compost.
Don’t forget that you can recycle batteries, electronic waste, string lights, printer cartridges, pens/pencils/markers, and more in the bright green bins outside of Pi Café.

Compost Buckets
Empty the remaining contents of your bucket into a Wesleyan black composting bin and rinse out the bucket. Visit map.wesleyan.edu/#/layer/compost if you’ve forgotten where to bring your compost. Email jkleindienst@wesleyan.edu if you have any questions.
All residents: Please bring your empty bucket with lid next to the nearest black bin to your residence no later than November 21st.
Residence Hall residents: Eco Facilitators will remove the bucket from your building over the break. If you have a compost jar that you will not want to keep, please notify your Eco Facilitator so that we can clean and reuse them.
Apartment and house residents: Please empty your bucket in the nearest black bin, rinse, and wash and leave the empty bucket partially uncovered so air can circulate. If you have a porch or other covered outdoor area, we recommend leaving it outside.

Waste Not
Donate selected reusable items to Waste Not by bringing them to the garage behind 44 Brainerd Ave (Womanist House) on Saturday, November 21st between 1-5 pm. We are ONLY collecting the following items: mirrors, fans, refrigerators, microwaves, lamps & decorations and are NOT accepting other items at this mid-semester collection. You can learn more via our Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/sustainablewes/photos/a.654797931207441/3683877778299426/.

If you have any questions regarding closing, please don’t hesitate to contact us at reslife@wesleyan.edu.

Best,
Kieran

Kieran J. Duffy ( He, Him pronouns)
Assistant Director of Residential Life
Wesleyan University
237 High Street
Middletown, CT 06459
(860) 685-3429

New Restrictions on Campus for Health and Safety – COVID Update

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The following reposted message was sent to the campus community by Dean Culliton on November 19th.

To the Campus Community:

I write today with an important update on Wesleyan’s operations, as we have seen a cluster of COVID-19 cases on campus in recent days. Given the community spread we see all around the country and our own new positive tests, we have determined that additional measures are needed to restrict interactions among those on campus.

Starting tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 20), those classes that were to meet in-person before Thanksgiving, will meet remotely. Faculty will be in touch with students about all relevant adjustments.

With Thanksgiving recess less than a week away, students who have received a negative result from their most recent test are advised to leave campus as soon as they are safely able to do so. Students who have not yet received the result of their most recent test should wait to travel. Students who receive a positive test result, experience any symptoms, or believe they may have been exposed to COVID in recent days should contact Health Services at 860-685-2470. Before leaving campus, students must return their keys to one of the key drop boxes (located at North College, Exley parking lot, and Admission parking lot), and follow the closing instructions.

For the safety of one’s family and home community, upon returning home, students should ideally quarantine for 14 days. However, some health authorities have recommended a four-day quarantine followed by a COVID test with negative results.

Immediately, we are implementing additional campus restrictions:

  • Gatherings are restricted to your ‘family unit.’
  • Organized athletic activities are suspended.
  • Dining is exclusively grab-and-go.
  • The libraries are closed, but contactless book pick-up is available.
  • Freeman Athletic Center remains closed.
  • Residence halls, program houses and wood-frame houses are open only to their residents.
  • Students are not to leave and return to campus other than for essential trips (e.g., to the doctor or pharmacy).

Students who have petitioned and received permission to remain on campus over break may still do so. These students are encouraged to take a test on November 24. Testing will be closed from Nov. 25–30 for Thanksgiving. If during this time, students remaining on campus become ill or are concerned about a COVID exposure, they should contact Health Services at 860-685-2470. Testing will resume on campus on December 2 and will operate on a reduced schedule: Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. All students and employees on campus will test once per week.

Cabinet members will continue to work with staff to determine positions that are needed on campus for student and faculty support and for other University needs.

As always, it is critical that everyone follow the COVID safety guidelines at all times, including mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, avoiding gatherings, and staying home when sick.

Thank you for your continued cooperation to keep our community safe. We will update you as necessary.

 

Sincerely,

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee