Update from Dean Lively
Hello, Everyone!
I'm going to keep my opening remarks brief and dive right in because there is much to share today. First, I would like to thank all of you who submitted your priority/preference forms on time. This was an important first step toward returning to campus, and our ability to reopen successfully depends on all of us working together efficiently.
That said, I know that some of you were concerned that you were only approved for one term on campus, when others had been approved for two. Hopefully the information below will allay your concerns and clarify the process. In addition, there is important information finalized this week that you'll need to make informed decisions for your return to campus.
Currently, we expect to have 2300 undergraduate students on campus this fall. We are, however, all responding and adjusting to new information about the public health situation, fall term options, family situations, and other personal considerations. In fact, some of you have changed your minds since submitting the forms, which we completely understand. We expect circumstances may change as we move into the fall. We also expect that we will be able to make more informed and accurate decisions for winter (and spring and summer) with new information in hand. We will work with you to the best of our abilities. More details follow below about where we are now, and options for your own decision-making going forward.
PRIORITY/PREFERENCE FORM RESULTS
From the beginning we have tried to be clear: this is the first step of a process that will gather accurate and current data on demand for on-campus spaces by term. These are priorities and preferences in the context of limited availability, and not housing guarantees. It has been and remains our goal for each of you to have two opportunities for on-campus enrollment.
As Provost Joe Helble announced last week, and as I mentioned in my message on Friday, we were pleased to be able to accommodate all of the '22s and '24s who requested fall as their priority term. We were also able to accommodate students from other classes who indicated fall as their first choice. In consultation with OVIS, the Office of Financial Aid and the Care Team, we also addressed some needs of international and high need students that weren't otherwise accommodated through this process.
More than 60% of you received approval for some combination of two terms. Of the 37% of you who received approval for one term in this first phase, there were some of you who told us you wanted only one term. Others ranked terms in an order of preference that in total would far exceed spring or winter capacity.
Unfortunately, if you are among the nearly 1500 who ranked spring as your first choice, it is not currently available. Demand from the '21s and the '24s for spring as their priority term nearly matched capacity. Those of you who hope for winter or spring as your second term are in the queue for the fall process based on availability -- which may change. And for the small number of you who didn't submit a form, or who did but declined your priority term and declined to rank any as your preference, you may enroll remotely for now, and you may submit choices in the fall which will be considered later in the process.
We do hope that public health conditions will improve so that we can increase the number of students on campus. For now, however, given the increasing counts across the United States and in many other countries that are home to our students, we cannot comfortably project an increase in capacity. For the fall, our goal remains to open as planned, to enable those of you approved to be on campus to return in September, and to have a full fall term of instruction and engagement without interruption.
Another goal is to progress to the next phase of confirming enrollment for future terms in October, informed by any updates in your choices (eg a student approved for winter decides to enroll remotely), the scope of international student visa/travel issues, circumstances of our high need students, whether there will be athletic seasons in winter term 2021, and most importantly, projections of public health conditions for winter. We know this leaves many uncertainties, and that it is extremely difficult to plan when there are so many unknowns as a result of the pandemic. We ask that you work with us to support one another and find the patience and resilience to continue as we find the right path forward for all.
CHANGING PRIORITIES AND PREFERENCES FOR FUTURE TERMS
We've heard from some of you that your circumstances have changed and that you now want to adjust your priorities and preferences for winter, spring or summer. A few of you, so far, have also told us that you now don't want to be here for your approved fall. As I mentioned yesterday, we may run a short fall waitlist process, but won't know until the week of the 9th.
Those of you who want to swap one term for another, or change your preferences, won't be able to do so right now. After we finish the final sort for fall and get through fall opening, we will take up these questions again in October, as part of the next phase.
CHANGING FALL PLANS, BILLING AND THE REFUND POLICY
Charges for fall tuition and fees will be visible on D-Pay on August 7th. Individual financial aid awards, and room and board charges will be added between August 7th and August 24th as students finalize plans for fall term. Completed billing statements for students enrolling remotely and those approved for fall on-campus enrollment will be uploaded in D-Pay on August 24th, with a due date of Friday, September 11th. See https://www.dartmouth.edu/finance/tuition/billing_paying_tuition/billing_schedules.php
A number of you have asked when and how you can decide to change your enrollment plans for fall term. The timing and framework for making those decisions follows below.
If you are approved for fall on-campus enrollment, and decide between now and Friday, August 21st that you will not be coming to campus, your bills will be updated before they are issued to reflect that you will not be charged room and board. As noted in my messages Friday afternoon, you will need to be sure yourselves that your individual D-plans accurately reflect your intentions.
If you decide against either fall on-campus or remote enrollment between August 22nd and the start of fall term, your student account will reflect the change, and you will receive a full refund.
If we do run a fall waitlist process, that process will conclude on August 21st. If you are approved to switch in to fall, your student account will be adjusted to reflect charges for room and board.
If you decide after checking in for fall term that you don't want to stay on-campus, you may convert to learning remotely from wherever you wish to be, subject to the prorated room and board provisions in the fall refund policy. See https://www.dartmouth.edu/finance/tuition/billing_paying_tuition/tuition_fee_refund_policy.php
If you decide after checking in for fall that you don't want to be taking classes at all, you will need to work with your undergraduate dean to withdraw from the term completely. The withdrawal will also be subject to the fall refund policy.
Finally, there are some who have already decided to submit a request for a five-year D-plan, which would enable you to "gap" part or all of this year by having 2-4 leave terms in succession. If this is something you want to consider, please contact your undergraduate dean to discuss the process and potential implications depending on your individual circumstances.
MORE ARRIVAL INFO
Many of you have asked for more specific dates of arrival the week before the term begins. We know you are anxious to make travel plans, but we strongly encourage you to wait. Given the number of arrivals on campus we can accommodate each day, and the need to carefully schedule and coordinate arrival testing, unfortunately we will not be able to accommodate arrivals outside of your assigned date and time. Although we are working as quickly as we can to finalize testing protocols with input from public health professionals, we will not be able to make those assignments until the week of August 16th. We must do this as carefully as possible to reduce the risk of an outbreak before the term even begins. Please bear with us, as the goal is for the benefit of all.
We have a related and important request. With national incidence rates and asymptomatic spread of disease increasing, and reports of school, camp and other openings facing reversal, we have to consider the possibility that the arrival of over 2000 students and many of their family members and friends may introduce the virus on campus. Accordingly, we are asking you to consider saying your good-byes at home. This is a sacrifice for sure, particularly for families of new students who imagined this very differently, but we hope you can understand the basis for our appeal and our prioritization on the health and safety of our community.
If someone must accompany you, we ask that you wear face coverings, maintain physical distancing, and that you say your good-byes outdoors. For the same reason - to reduce the risk of transmission and a compromised start to the term - family members, friends and guests will not be permitted to enter the residence halls, testing areas, and other campus facilities. As we've announced previously, you may bring only what you can carry in the event that you have to leave quickly. If conditions change as they did for so many colleges and universities in March, campuses may again have to shut down. Your actual move into the residence hall will be very brief and structured to minimize group encounters. We are very sorry it has to be this way, but we ask that everyone appreciate the critical importance of starting the term with a healthy community of students, faculty, staff and neighbors, a start that is needed to maximize the chances that we can successfully start, and complete, the term.
Now that all of the updates are out of the way, I want to once again express my gratitude for all of you submitting your priorities and preferences forms on time and working with us to ensure a successful re-opening. I also want to applaud you for turning to your student leaders to guarantee that your collective concerns reach me and my staff. I want to assure you that no question is too small or out of bounds. And although we may not be able to answer them one on one, we will continue to provide you with the best and most current information we can. In the meantime, I hope that you and yours are doing as well as possible during this pandemic and in preparation for your eventual transition to or return to campus.
All my best,
Dean Lively