 to help our students prepare to return to ECSU for the spring semester. We are excited for the new year and the possibilities of every great thing that all of you will bring to our Viking community. Before I go on, we are announcing tonight a modified academic calendar for the spring semester. This is the first time we are releasing this information. However, it will be followed up tomorrow in writing as a press release, campus release rather, to our campus community providing this information that you will hear tonight about the modified academic calendar. You will get all of these details in writing, but we'll go ahead and tell you what we're thinking. While we are looking forward to welcoming all of you back to campus, we continue to make adjustments to take necessary precautions to continue to keep you safe and healthy on our campus. As we look at the growing number of COVID cases, as we've heard our governor speak about the increase across the state of North Carolina and beyond, we have discussed very vigorously the modification to the academic calendar that will put us in better position to welcome you back. This modification will provide more time for you to have your tests done before you return to campus. This is especially important because we know that some people were gathering at Christmas and at New Year's and over the holiday break, and we want to make sure that those, any possibility of a COVID case arising as active, that we have those detected, you do so rather, before you come to campus. And so our modification for the academic year, for spring, we are going to delay the spring semester by one week. This is hot off the press, you're the first to hear it. And we're going to put it in writing. So we are going to delay the spring semester by one week. Classes will now begin on Monday, January 25th. Let me repeat that. Classes will now begin on Monday, January 25th. We are moving from the initial date of January 19 to now January 15th for the start of classes. That also means that we are making adjustments to the move-in schedule for residents' lives. Those of you who are moving on campus, coming back to campus and moving into our residence halls, that adjustment will take place as well. And we are moving that adjustment and having students move back January 20th through 24th. I have asked BC Dr. Gary Brown to provide more specific information with you tonight about what that means in regards to the move-in process. However, we are looking at, once we send this out to you in writing, we're starting classes on January 25th. The semester will end on May 7th. We will have commencement now on May 8th. And we will incorporate three wellness days within the academic semester. And Provost Dr. Farrah Ward will provide more insight into the specifics behind these dates tonight, as well as this will be written in the correspondence that you will receive as a campus community on tomorrow. So don't worry about, you know, you don't have to take all the detailed notes tonight in regards to the modified schedule because we will send this out in writing to you on tomorrow. But I wanted you to be the first to know that we have made this decision based on the health and wellness of our campus, based on the fact that we are holding each and every one of you, as well as ourselves responsible, accountable for doing the right thing in the spring semester as we were able to do in the fall. And I was quite honored and quite excited about our outcomes for the fall semester based on us all building a culture of expectation and holding each other accountable for washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing. So for those of you who returned to campus in the fall, you saw all those changes. You saw those changes that we made on campus to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff. Those same changes are going to be maintained during the spring semester. We have updated the signage. We have made sure that the entire campus received a deep cleaning of disinfecting the classrooms, the residence halls, the buildings, the facilities. And we made sure that these things were maintained in accordance with the CDC guidance that was in place and continues to be in place for us to make sure that we have our three W's and that we are continuing to clean and sanitize. So tonight's Town Hall event is to provide information about what to expect this spring semester. Our guests will provide even more detail about the modifications I just mentioned for the spring semester and what you need to prepare for as you plan your arrival on campus and your stay with us, those of you who are staying in the residence halls. So I have invited two of my colleagues who are leading efforts in making sure that we're doing those things that are necessary to keep our campus safe. They're on the ground, they're interacting with students, they're leading faculty staff and they are providing great insight so that we are making decisions based on data and science. And we want all of you to continue to help us to build this culture of expectation where we are holding each other accountable. So first my colleague, my provost, Dr. Fair Ward and my vice chancellor, Dr. Gary Brown, vice chancellor for student affairs. We'll be talking about these things that I've mentioned in more detail. And we will be taking questions tonight. Some of you submitted questions prior to tonight's Town Hall, thank you so much. We will address those questions. If you were unable to submit your questions prior to the start of tonight's Town Hall, you can still do so, it is not too late. So if you hear something tonight, you want more clarification, please email us during this Town Hall meeting at viking-no-s, viking-compass-c-o-m-p-a-s-s at ecsu.edu. I'll say that one more time. Viking-no-s, viking-compass-c-o-m-p-a-s-s at ecsu.edu. At any time during this Town Hall, you may submit your questions to that email address. We will answer questions immediately after you hear from Provost Ward and Dr. Brown. I'll open the floor for questions that were submitted previously, as well as questions that are submitted during the Town Hall tonight. I will now turn over this presentation to Provost Ward to start us off with what we should expect from the academic side of the experience here at ECSU. Provost Ward. Thank you so much Chancellor. As the Chancellor indicated, we will begin the semester one weekly on Monday, January 25th, instead of Tuesday, January 19th. Please note that although we normally begin school on a Tuesday, this semester we will begin on Monday, January the 25th. Final exams will end on Friday, May 7th. And as the Chancellor indicated, we will still have commencement on Saturday, May 8th. In an effort to limit students traveling and thus reducing the exposure to COVID-19, we will not have a spring break this semester. However, we will observe three wellness days throughout the semester. These days will be intended for students not to have class or assignments due, and there will be one day in February, another one in March, and then another day off in April. All of these dates will be identified in the correspondence that is sent out tomorrow. Similar to the fall semester, we will continue to have room signage indicating to promote social distance. There will be signs on the tables and the floor to indicate where students should sit. We have also allocated time between courses in a specific classroom to allow cleaning multiple times throughout the day. In terms of course delivery method, similar to the fall semester, courses will be delivered in a variety of formats. About 45% of our courses will be offered exclusively online. In addition, about 30% of our classes will be offered face-to-face, and another 25% of those courses will be offered via some form of hybrid. The hybrid formats include courses who may be on AB days, where half the class attends on one day, and another half of the class attends on another day, or hybrid where some days the classes offer face-to-face, and then on other days the course is offered remotely, maybe via the Zoom platform. In terms of the spring semester offerings, the spring 2020 semester offerings has been finalized. At this time, no additional online courses will be offered. In order to allow students to make modifications to their schedule, we have reopened the preregistration system. Students may log into Banner and make any necessary accommodations to their schedule. Pre-registration will remain open until Wednesday, January 20th, and so students may make any necessary modifications that they would like. I do understand that some students may wish to enroll in all online courses for the spring semester. Students who do not intend to come to campus have some options. First, they have the option of modifying the schedule as I just indicated above. Students who need specific courses that may not be offered online at ECSU for the spring may take courses via UNC online. Since ECSU is part of the UNC system, students who are enrolled in classes at ECSU for the spring semester will have the option to take courses through UNC online and another UNC institutions. Students wishing to take these courses online must complete a transient study form and get approval prior to enrolling in the course. It is imperative that students complete the transient study form before enrolling in the course because completion of the transient study form will ensure that the course they're taking at another UNC institution is equivalent to the course that they should be enrolled in here at ECSU, therefore making the transfer of that course back to ECSU seamless. If students have documented illness or a need for specific accommodations, they may request one by contacting Felicia Brown, Director of Student Accessibility Services at 252-335-3642. Again, if a student has a documented illness or need for an accommodation, they may request it by contacting Felicia Brown, Director of Student Accessibility Services at 252-335-3642. They will need to submit a request form and provide appropriate documentation in order to receive an accommodation. Please note that students receiving an accommodation will not necessarily have their courses converted to an online course, but they will be provided appropriate accommodation so that they may receive their course material remotely without having the requirement to attend campus. There are three specific questions that I did not answer above, and so I'll read the specific questions that were submitted and then provide an answer to those. One question was, a student is receiving financial aid and they are not returning back to campus for the spring semester, but want to enroll only part-time, so they are not gonna be enrolled as a full-time student. I was under the impression that as a student, I had to be registered for full-time to receive financial aid. This is not true. Students do not have to be enrolled as a full-time student for the spring semester in order to receive financial aid. Full-time is 12 credits or more. So again, students do not have to be enrolled in 12 credits or more for the spring semester in order to receive financial aid. Although students who are enrolled less than 12 credit hours, so less than full-time, they may require an adjustment to their financial aid or more. So you may not receive the exact amount that you received when you were enrolled full-time, it will be adjusted down if you are enrolled, say only for part-time six credits. However, I encourage that individual to reach out to our financial aid office to ask specific questions about how their financial aid will be affected if they are not enrolled as a full-time student. To contact your financial aid advisor, please call 252-335-3283. Again, to contact financial aid 252-335-3283. A second question I received was, what would be the COVID-19 safety protocol for those who apply for work study for the spring semester? Some work study positions have transitioned to allow students to work 100% remotely off campus. Work study positions that are on campus will follow social distancing protocols, including the requirement that masks must be worn at all time, sanitation of work station as appropriate, and maintaining at least six feet distance when at work. For additional questions involving work study, students may also reach out to financial aid again at 252-335-3283. And then the last question I received was, regarding purchasing textbooks. An individual did not want to necessarily sign up for book rental, but wanted to purchase textbooks on their own. The question was, does a student have to wait until they receive their syllabus in order to know what the textbook is for a specific course? The answer is no. Students may find out their textbook for a specific course right now. In order to determine what a textbook, what your textbook will be for a course, students should go to www.ecshop.com. www.ecshop.com. www.ecshop.com. www.ecshop.com. Simply click on textbooks into the semester, the course prefix and the course number, and you will see the book identified for that course. Those are all of the questions that we received so far. Of course, I won't entertain any additional questions at the end of this town hall. Thank you so much, Chancellor. Thank you so much, Provost Ward, for providing that insight. Just as a reminder to those of you who are listening in to this virtual town hall tonight, we would like for you to submit your questions to Viking Compass, Viking NOES Compass, C-O-M-P-A-S-S at ecsu.edu. If you submit your questions on YouTube chat, we cannot see those questions, and we want to answer your questions tonight. So those of you who may have submitted questions on YouTube chat, please write those questions to Viking Compass, NOES with the Vikings, Viking Compass at ecsu.edu so that we can answer your questions tonight. Thank you so much, Provost Ward. Now we're going to move over to Vice Chancellor Dr. Gary Brown, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, to provide insight on what students should expect with move-in and any additional information he has regarding keeping our campus safe. Dr. Brown. Thank you, Chancellor. Good evening, Vikings. As has already been shared with you tonight, we have determined that re-entry testing will be required for all residential students, and we are strongly encouraging all of our commuter students to take advantage of re-entry testing requirements as well. The move-in process will be facilitated over a series of days, beginning January the 20th, and concluding on January the 24th. The process calls for mandatory health screening, health pre-screening, and negative COVID-19 test results. These test results can be provided the day of move-in, but they must show that your results have been communicated to you not more than three days prior to your arrival to campus. If you do not have test results to provide, Student Health Services will conduct re-entry rapid testing prior to your being cleared to proceed to your residence hall. Let me reiterate, you must complete both the pre-screening and have a negative COVID-19 test result before you will be allowed to proceed to your residence hall. Students have already received, or should be, expecting to receive detailed instructions on when your scheduled return date for move-in will be. Because of this shift, we will be communicating those dates to you early next week, so please be looking in your university-issued email as you will receive communication from your community director as to the specific date and time of your move-in for the week of January 20th through the 24th. If the pre-screening process is not completed adequately or your COVID-19 test returns positive, students will not be allowed to move into their residence hall assignment. Instead, you will be required to return home to quarantine for the recommended timeframe based on CDC guidelines. I'll reiterate, if for some reason your pre-screening process is not completed adequately or your COVID-19 test returns positive when you arrive to campus, you will not be allowed to come into the residential space. You will be required to return home to quarantine there for the recommended timeframe based on CDC guidelines. Let's return home or find somewhere else to quarantine, but you will not be allowed to come into the residential space. Therefore, if for some reason on the date of your move-in, you are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, if you know that you have been around someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please do not come to campus. Instead, you should feel free to contact the Dean of Students' Office at 252-335-2477 or to email the Dean of Students at deanofstudents.ecsu.edu to inform us of your status so that we might communicate to housing and residence life to hold your room assignment. The Division of Academic Affairs related to holding your schedule and student health services to provide you health support. Again, if on the date of your move-in, you are experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or if you know that in the days prior to your arrival, you have been in contact with someone who has been exposed to the virus or tested positive for the virus, you should remain home so that you might quarantine there. You should proceed to your medical provider in the place where you're from in order to be tested and to remain home until you garner your test results. In the meantime, if you contact the Dean of Students' Office, we will provide you the necessary support from a distance to ensure that your room assignment and your classes are held appropriately and to provide you other support. If you test positive upon arrival to campus during the move-in process, you will be required to quarantine, but you will have to quarantine at home. As such, it is imperative that you are attentive to your health and your activity ahead of coming back to school. Now is the time to begin that focus to ensure that your move-in process is a seamless process. I wanna give you an overview of what to expect when you arrive here to campus. Again, move-in will happen January 20th to the 24th. You will be prescheduled in two-hour time blocks that are assigned by the Department of Housing and Residence Life. All of our resident assistants, you all will return to campus on January the 19th. You can expect that you will garner an email from your community director with a director residential life related to your directions. Each student who returns to campus will be allowed two guests to assist with moving their items in during move-in. All students must have their ECSU student ID to return to campus. If you do not have your ECSU student ID, you will need to schedule an appointment with auxiliary services. You should have already received an email notification from auxiliary services within the last week via your ECSU email account regarding the process to garnering your student ID. Students can provide documentation upon arrival of negative COVID-19 test results, having been taken no more than three days prior to the move-in date. If students are not able to provide the documentation, again, we will provide a rapid antigen test for you upon your arrival, but your test must return negative in order to garner interest to the residence hall. All students and guests will be temperature checked when you arrive to campus. Only students will be tested. According to CDC guidelines, a person is considered to have a fever with a temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If for some reason someone in the vehicle that you're riding in tests or the temperature comes back at an elevated rate, all of you will be tested. Okay, and if anyone in that car tests positive, we will have to have you to quarantine at home. So it is very imperative that everyone who comes with you and yourselves are attentive to your health on the date in which you're planning to come to campus for move-in. Students and guests will be given a wristband once you are cleared from the testing area. Additionally, a colored sticker will be placed on your ECSU ID card. This is why you really need to have your ECSU ID. Students and guests must keep your wristbands on until you have completed the move-in process in the residence halls. You will not have access to the residence hall if you do not have a wristband or colored sticker. That is our way of knowing that you have been adequately tested so that we can ensure that our environment is safe for everyone involved. If you cannot make your scheduled appointment due to some sort of issue that you are to reach out to the Dean of Students Office as has already been directed, please contact student accounts if you have not been cleared financially in order to move into your residence hall. You must have been cleared financially, tested on campus or received a negative test result three days prior to, within three days prior to your date of move-in and receive the wristband and the sticker. Ahead of time, this is very important. We need you to download the Navica app on your phone prior to arriving to campus. You can go to the app store on your iPhone or on the Google Play Store, on your Android phone and the app, the name of it is Navica. That's N-A-V-I-C-A. That app is how your results are communicated to you. Downloading it prior to coming to campus is helpful so that there are no delays in the process upon your arrival here. Please arrive to campus on time and only during your scheduled move-in time. You are to remain in your vehicle at all times. But we also want you to remember, turn your heat, your vehicle's heat down or cut it off when you arrive to campus to avoid any sort of false temperature reading when we get ready to do your temperature reading. You will enter the campus from the main entrance, which is at 1704 Weeksville Road. That's the main entrance right by the Gilchrist building. Once you are on campus, you will arrive at the ECSU Arts. You will see it right in front of you. You'll make a right at the first stop sign to follow around past the Gilchrist education and psychology complex. You'll follow the testing signage, which will guide you to the testing area. The university police will be there to support you, to direct you the appropriate way. And all testing will take place outside the Mickey L. Burnham Fine Arts Center. University police will be there to direct some traffic. Students will be tested by Student Health Services Medical Staff from your vehicles. Guests of students will only be temperature check. And so you won't be tested unless your temperature is elevated if you are a guest of a student. After being tested, staff will direct students to the holding area of the parking lot until results are confirmed and your results will be delivered via the Navica app within 15 minutes. If you receive a negative result and the temperature of the guest is normal, your students and the guests will be given a wristband. The sticker will be placed on your ID card and that will allow you to move into your particular residence hall and to move about the rest of campus. Again, any positive test result will result in the student's immediate quarantine requirement at home and not on campus. We have an obligation to ensure that we have the necessary spaces on campus to quarantine our students. We cannot afford for those spaces to fill up when we first arrive. And so we recommend that you are very attentive to your health prior to your arrival. All standard protocols related to positive tests that occurred during the semester will be followed just as we did in the fall. So if you test negative, you move into the residence hall and in the process of the semester you find yourself experiencing symptoms, you find yourself testing again, that test result comes back positive. We do have quarantine space at that time to be able to work with you, okay? Now we are also providing testing services for commuter students. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this. Testing and review of documentation of commuter students, information will occur on the following days, Saturday, January the 23rd from one o'clock p.m. to five o'clock p.m. And Sunday, January 24th from 10 a.m. to five p.m. Commuter students can provide documentation of negative COVID-19 test results, having been taken no more than three days prior to the first day of class. If you're not able to provide the documentation, a rapid antigen test or will be administered to you upon your arrival to campus and test results will come back. And if they're negative, great, if not, then you will be directed to quarantine at home for the selected amount of time. Again, Vikings, it is very important that we remember our accountability to each other, that we make good decisions. There were some questions that came in prior to tonight's meeting. And some of those questions were about how safe one would be on campus. If others made decisions that were outside of the expectations that have been set, please note that there is an executive order that the governor of the state of North Carolina has issued. That executive order requires people to be at home after 10 o'clock, after 10 o'clock p.m. No one is to be out and about just kind of riding around, having a good time or anything like that. And you should be trying to stay in as much as you possibly can so that you can mitigate the spread. Now, please understand, all of you made some really great decisions for the most part during the fall semester. You allow for each of us, each and every one of us to have a very successful semester. We did have a few issues here and there with students making decisions that would have negative impacts on the fuller community. We will continue to take the steps that we took before related to the implementation of the student code of conduct should we find that individuals are not following the guidelines that have been set forward. It is our hope that you all will hold each other accountable just as you always have done and that you remember to make very good decisions. I think Chancellor, at this time, those are all of the comments that I have at this point. Thank you so much, V.C. Brown. Dr. Brown, we appreciate that very thorough update on what students and their families, parents, family members, guests should expect in the move-in with the move-in process. Questions are coming in, that's great. That's what we're here for, to make sure that you get your questions answered to the best of our ability. Do note that we are accepting questions as we speak right now live. We just need you to email those questions to vikingcompass, vikingnoes, vikingcompass.com P-A-S-S at ecsu.edu. Okay, so let's get into some of the questions that are coming in that the provost and V.C. Brown have not already addressed in their remarks. First question I see is, I already purchased my ticket for next week and cannot change my ticket date. Is the school going to reimburse it? I'll turn that to V.C. Brown to address. So for students who may be in that sort of situation, I would like for you to email the Dean of Students at ecsu.edu, provide your name, your contact information, and we will certainly follow back up with you related to what type of support that we may be able to provide there. We will consider those sort of requests on a case-by-case basis, okay? But, and so I will tell you that we have made some plans to address some of those things, but we need to be able to speak directly to you so we can understand your circumstances before we can make some decisions. So email Dean of Students at ecsu.edu or call 252-335-2477 and our Dean of Students will certainly be responsive to you as you make that communication. Thank you, V.C. Brown. The next question is, can the COVID-19 test results be four days instead of three? And I'll just say in being consistent with what is required or what has been recommended with the CDC and other campuses within the UNC system, the three-day gives us a better window of making sure that you are safe to return to campus. And V.C. Brown, I'll let you reiterate if there's something additional you want to add to that, but we would or we are extending a week. One reason is because we have heard from students that it has been difficult or lines have been long in obtaining the COVID test. And so this gives you an additional week to have your COVID test administered and within that three-day window. V.C. Brown, do you want to add anything to that? Well, Chancellor, I think you have said it. I'll just say that our expectations are in line with best practice and standards that our sister institutions are also extending as well. And so three days is as far as we can go to ensure that we actually have a clear picture of what's happening on our campus. Thank you, V.C. Brown. Our next question is, what day do we need to go for the student to take the COVID test and what about the orientation fee? How do we move it to financial aid? So I'm guessing the question is about, I'm not sure if this question is about what day you need to go in the place of your residence or what day the test will be facilitated on campus, but if the question is about what day to take it in the place where you currently live, we can't really answer that question for you. That's a question that is more better asked to the health professionals who you are working with in your own community. But we can say that there will be on-site testing on the date of your move in. We are encouraging you though. This process will work a whole lot more seamless if you go get tested prior to your arrival to campus. And if those test results are communicated to you within three days of your particular move in date, I will tell you that the rapid antigen test, the rapid test comes back in 15 minutes everywhere. The PCR test, which is a little bit more of a sensitive test, it typically takes about 48 hours for the test results to come back. And so if you take a PCR test, generally those test results will come back within three days. So three days prior to your arrival on campus, that's a good day for you to be able to take that sort of test. If you take a rapid test, then you can take that three days prior to your arrival to campus and we will accept those results as well. But the big thing to know is that we cannot accept any results that are ordered in three days old. Thank you, V.C. Brown. Hello, Provost. Well, I'm sorry, there was another part to that question I wanted to give you. There was another part about orientation fee. Yes, and so... And financial aid, yes. So there is a process that I believe is outlined in the orientation process. If there is a concern related to the orientation fee, you should be able to reply back to the orientation department and ask them that question in particular. There is a process that is in place for us to be able to do that, but you need to communicate directly with the individual who's been communicating with you about orientation. And the orientation director is the executive director for student engagement, as Mr. Ferrelli McGilvery, he's the one who has been coordinating with you and likely emailing you from a standard email addresses for the office. So respond back to the email that notified you of either your confirmation about the orientation program or the email that was sent to you with orientation information. And that will be the way in which to get the bar rolling to get that process completed. In addition to that, with the financial aid part of that question, there is a form online where you can have your orientation fee moved to student accounts. And I just received that bit of information from our senior leader in the business and finance area. So go to the website. There is a form there that you can fill out regarding your orientation fee being moved to student accounts as well. And Provost, did you have anything additional to say about, okay. All right, let's move on to the next question. The next question is similar to what we've just answered. It's in regards to an out of state student who has already paid for a flight, but BC Brown has mentioned, please email the Dean of Students, your situation. These are gonna be handled on a case by case basis with proof of purchase. But BC Brown, can you give that email address again, please, because that question has been asked again just now. Yes, Dean of Students, that's D-E-A-N-O-F, S-T-U-D-E-N-T-S at E-C-S-U, dot E-D-U. Thank you, BC Brown. The next question is with move and date pushback, do students have to take the COVID test again? Yes, we did already answer this one. We need a three day prior to your move in date. So the COVID test should state the dates on the COVID test results. It should be within that three-day window prior to your move and date. Our next question is my bill isn't right and I've been contacting and trying to correct it and I haven't had any luck connecting with someone to get it resolved, what do I do next? So let me answer that question. I want you to contact my Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance, Lisa McClinton and her phone number is 252-335-3665 for the student who asked that question so that we can make sure that whatever questions you have regarding your bill that that's taken care of. And so please do that. She is expecting your call because I did reach out to her and student accounts just as a FYI to everyone, student accounts is working and they're on campus, they are open. So we're, you know, feel free to contact them via phone, email, they're there if you're having any trouble with your bill. The next question is when will we be moving on to campus? I went to get my COVID testing, think we're coming back on the 14th. Okay, that one we've answered. We have modified the schedule. You will be moving back on campus between January 20th and 24th. Someone from the Student Affairs area, Dr. Gary Brown's area will be contacting you to schedule your move-in date. And so plan to move back in between January 20th through the 24th. Classes will start on Monday, January 25th now. So we have pushed things back an additional week to give our students and their families more time to come prepared to move in on campus based on the requirements that we have discussed tonight and the CDC guidance that we have received. So be sure to use this extra week to get these things done that Dr. Brown mentioned. Is this new move-in date set in stone? Yes, it is, it is set in stone and it will be provided tomorrow in writing to our entire campus community. So everyone who is listening in tonight will receive an email with the details that we have discussed tonight. You will have that in writing so that everyone is aware of how we are moving forward. Has the mold issue been resolved in university suites? My son dealt with this issue at the beginning of the fall semester. That issue has been resolved. I'll ask VC Brown to provide even more detail about that situation that had nothing to do with COVID. That situation was basically due to the fact that where we are located, we are in the valley of the hurricanes and for parents who have been concerned about that, our governor, Governor Cooper, did approve a $5 million renovation fee of the roofs of some of these buildings on campus that have been damaged due to hurricanes. So we are grateful to have this funding and there will be construction on some of these buildings to repair those roofs that have been damaged due to the last two major hurricanes and others that the university has been strong in making it through. So VC Brown, do you have anything additional to add to that? Just to add to that, Chancellor, over the break, our facilities unit did go into each residence hall room to do some additional cleaning to ensure that our spaces would be clean and sanitized and safe for students return. There were no issues reported during that time and over the next week, staff within the division of student affairs will be doing a room to room audit within all of our residence halls in particular in university suites to verify that each room is ready to be occupied. And so the issue has been resolved and we're taking all necessary steps to ensure that there are no residual issues that arise between now and the time in which you all come back to campus. And parents, I would say the key parents and students, the key to what he just said is, we don't know what we don't know but we do know what we have done to put in place and until these issues are observed and reported, we don't know, but we will be addressing it as it is being reported. So if your child or students, if you see any evidence of any mold or anything in any of the residence halls, let your RA know there's a process in place of how to alert us. And what I know is that we're holding everyone accountable for addressing these things as quickly as possible because the safety of our students is first. And V.C. Brown knows that and is holding his team accountable to that as well. Are we allowed to get tested on campus when we get there? V.C. Brown, I know you've addressed this but do you wanna reiterate that part again? Yes, yes, you are allowed to be tested when you arrive to campus. But again, it would help you and others very much if you were to take a proactive approach and try to get tested prior to your arrival that will ensure that you have as much time as you absolutely need to get moved into your residence hall and that there are no delays. Thank you, V.C. Brown. V.C. Brown, this is another one for you and I welcome our new students who will be attending Elizabeth City State University this spring. This sounds like a question that one of our new students may have asked. So welcome, welcome to the Viking family. But this question is what about the washing machines and dryers in the residence halls? Do they take quarters? So I've got good news. You won't need quarters for washing machines here at ECSU. Your actual washing and drying fees are already included in the fees that you pay for your residence hall room. And so you go in and use them like you would anywhere else. And so there's no coins or anything like that that's required for your use of our washes and dryers. Thank you, V.C. Brown. The next question is what would the steps be to return if you are living off campus as a full-time student? So we outlined prior and just a little bit ago the process, but I'll kind of give you that again. We are doing providing testing for off-campus students Saturday, January 23rd from one to 5 p.m. Sunday, January 24th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can provide a documentation of negative COVID-19 test results at that time. And those results should have received no prior then three days prior to the first date of classes, which means first day of class is actually the 25th. And so you should have received those results no later than, no earlier than actually, I think Friday, the 22nd. If you don't have the documentation, we will give a test to you just like we would give to a residential student so that we might denote that you have a negative test result and then we'll give you the sticker to go in the back of your ID card. So please take advantage of the opportunity being presented to you on that Saturday and Sunday prior to the start of classes. Thank you, V.C. Brown. Next question is, I don't want to go home on the account of my roommate getting sick. Am I able to remain alone in my room by myself in university towers? How many COVID tests are we taking in all? So I can't tell you that we would allow you to remain in your particular residence hall room alone. If for some reason your roommate ended up testing positive for COVID because as long as we allow you to remain in that particular space, you could be putting others at risk. And so we'll follow our standard protocol to move you into the quarantine spaces that we have already identified. We actually have going into this semester 49 quarantine spaces, we actually started last semester, I think with 25, we were able to increase as the semester went along to about 37. We ended at the very end with 45 and we now have 49 that we're gonna be bringing online for this semester. So we're trying our very best to make sure that we have the necessary spaces for us. And so we would trust that you would follow the directive that our student health professionals give to you if for some reason that was your circumstance. As for how many COVID tests you'll take in all, we will be running a surveillance testing program. We have hopes of being able to test everyone within our residence community at least once during this semester, but we will have to see. So I can't tell you that you're gonna have two, three, four tests in a semester. Some of it is about how much you avail yourself because the surveillance testing program is actually voluntary. You'll receive some notice from student health as to the date and time in which you've been scheduled to come by and take a test at student health so that we might be able to get ahead of any issues that might arise and so we'll go from there. But initially there's one test that we need you to take. That's the one that has the negative result that's received no more than three days prior to your arrival to campus or the negative test result that you get once you arrive on campus. So right now let's just focus on the one. If you can give us the one, then that gets the ball rolling to ensure that you'll have a successful semester. Thank you, V.C. Brown. And that one should be within that three-day window prior to you moving back on campus. The next question is what if we aren't able to get tested at home? So this is one of the reasons that we are pushing back our start date for a week because we have heard some of these situations that are going on in counties in North Carolina as well as beyond. We are in close contact with the Department of Health as well as the State Department of Health Office with Dr. Mandy Cohen through the UNC system. We are aware that there are some counties that are not testing if you're asymptomatic. If you live in one of those counties we can of course tell that you are in one of those counties that may not be testing due to being asymptomatic. We will, as Dr. Brown mentioned, have testing on campus. However, we only want to limit that to those students who are coming from those counties that may not be offering asymptomatic testing. So others of you, the counties that we know are testing everyone, the expectation is you will come to campus with your test results within that three day window. Our next question is for our provost. If your COVID test is positive and you are currently enrolled in classes or if you're currently enrolled in classes, not online, how would this affect the start date and workload? As V.C. Brown indicated, if for some reason you do have a positive test, you will notify the Dean of Students. If you're on campus, of course, we will already know that. And then we will work together to make sure that your faculty are notified about your quarantine and we will make sure that you received your coursework. So there will be accommodations. Your courses will not automatically go 100% online, but we will make sure that you receive your course material so that you will not be behind. Thank you, Provost. Next question is new student orientation. I'm not quite sure if we address this yet. So either one of you can chime in, but is it gonna be rescheduled and what do those dates look like for those students who are already signed up for new student orientation? So new student orientation is actually a virtual experience. And so the date of new student orientation will remain the same as has already been planned. So please follow the directions that have been sent to you, to your university email address. If you have questions about orientation specifically, you can email orientation at ecsu.edu and you will receive a response right away. Thank you, V.C. Brown. Will there be a vaccination program provided by the school as vaccines become available to the public? At this point, the UNC system is not having campuses involved themselves in providing vaccines for the public or for the campus communities at this time. However, there are local hospitals, health departments and other places where the vaccine will be available and that information will be provided as it becomes available. But as of now, no ECSU will not be providing vaccines for COVID-19. This will be something that if that information is needed, we will of course put it on our Biking Compass website and we'll also be listing some places that provide the vaccine for those who choose to have the vaccine administered. We'll make sure to have that on the Biking Compass website as well for information purposes. How will dining work with the new safety protocols? V.C. Brown? So we are not really making much shift in terms of our dining expectations. We have identified the seating. There are limited seating capacities in all of our dining facilities and dining areas. There will be takeout process just as it was on last semester. And we really will be adhering to the state of guidelines as specified by the governor's executive order. And so we'll continue to offer dining in the same way that we did during the fall, which means that you can go get a takeout plate, you can get a tray, what have you, and take it back to your room or find somewhere else to sit. But there is very limited seating in both the cafeteria as well as the Vikings Grill area. Thank you, V.C. Brown. This question is a little off the topic of COVID, but I'll answer it. Is there a plan in motion for use of the recent $15 million donation? First, I have to say we are so grateful and thankful for Mackenzie Scott's $15 million donation to Elizabeth City State University. We will be good stewards of this donation. We will make sure that the university is financially stable for the future. And we will also make sure that our students receive an enhanced experience at ECSU, our faculty, our staff as well. So we're excited about this and the great things are coming to ECSU. And I look forward to experiencing all of this with our Viking family. Can someone guide me through the steps on how to apply for housing? Yes. And so I have just gotten a text from our director, Res Life. We want you to go to inside ECSU, then click on residence life. And there's a link there to apply for housing. You may also call 252-335-3761. If you prefer to make a phone call to be walked through the steps. Thank you, BC Brown. My test is this Friday. Do I have to get tested again to make the three-day window? Yes, because move-in has been pushed back a week. So that means you need to test three days before you are scheduled to move in. And move-in will take place January 20th through the 24th. So your test has to show that it has three days prior to your scheduled move-in date. Next question, what days are meant for commuter students to show a negative test? That is January 23rd from one to five p.m. That's Sunday, January 24th from 10 a.m. to five p.m. Thank you, BC Brown. As a commuter student, do I need to drive to school on Saturday to the 23rd, one to five, and Sunday to 24th, one to five to deliver COVID test results? Or can I email them to the school instead? BC Brown? So we would prefer that you bring the test results if you're close enough where you can get to campus. We would prefer you bring the test results, one, so that we might be able to verify that they are actually your test results. That's one, and two, because we do want to give you some indicator that you have successfully completed the process, which is why you need your ECSU ID and then we'll place a sticker on the back of your ID for you. Okay, thank you. What are the protocols to get cleared to come back to campus? Provost, this may be yours, I believe. Go ahead. Yes, in order for students to get cleared, they have to either pay their bill completely. If they have financial aid, they would have to accept their terms and conditions at their financial aid, or they can set up a payment plan. And to set up a payment plan, students just need to go to student accounts and then they click on make a payment and they can pay with any credit card. There is no charge to pay their bill online or if they want to set up a payment plan, they can also contact student accounts at 252-335-3471. Again, to set up a payment plan, they can contact student accounts at 252-335-3471. But to get cleared, you must have your bill satisfied or you must have set up a payment plan. Thank you, Provost. Next question is with move and date pushback, will classes start later? The answer is yes. Classes will start on January 25th, and that is a Monday, unlike years past where we've started on a Tuesday, we will start on Monday, January 25th. The other part of the question is, or will they start online? There are three different ways of instruction, so it will fall according to however that class is scheduled, whether it be online, in-person, or hybrid. And Provost, do you have anything you want to specify with that based on what I just said? No, I would just reiterate, again, I know that some people may have friends that go to other institutions and so there are a lot of different models for the spring semester, but at ECSU, we will start classes on Monday, January 25th. If you have a face-to-face class that meets on a Monday, you will attend the face-to-face class on that Monday, January 25th. If you have online courses, then you will have your first online course you can log in on Monday, January 25th. Thank you. This is for you, V.C. Brown. What is the visitation process for this semester? I know last semester, it went from only having one visitor per room to being cut entirely. V.C. Brown, can you address that, please? Yes. There will be no visitation this spring and that is really for us to be, to maintain a safe environment as we possibly can. That's no external visitation. That's no room-to-room visitation either, okay? Really and truly, this pandemic has highlighted the fact that when individuals kind of gather in enclosed spaces, it increases the risk. And so we want you all to adhere to those expectations as much as possible. If you need to gather, you wanna fellowship with friends. There are places across the campus where that can be done in a socially distant sort of way. But in truth, your rooms are not designed to have lots of people in them. If you have a double, they're designed to have two people there and those rooms actually meet CDC guidelines related to distance and the like. But any more students in those spaces other than that would not be in your best interest. So there will be no visitation this semester. We will continue to monitor what it is is happening across the state. And going forward, if there is a need to shift that, but initially there will be no visitation. And we will let you know if something should change. Thank you. Thank you, BC Brown. Next question is, good evening. This is a new transfer student. So welcome new transfer students. Welcome to ECSU, welcome to the Viking family. Thank you for this question. It says, I don't know if this question has already been answered, but is the school still allowing students to attend campus this coming semester despite COVID-19? The answer is yes. We are still offering the residential experience. And we are also, of course, working closely with our commuter students to make sure their experience goes well and is positive. So yes, we are still offering an opportunity for students to attend campus and come to campus, whether you're residential or you're attending in-person courses. And the provost talked a little bit about the various ways of instruction that we're offering, both in-person, online and hybrid ways of instruction. So welcome new transfer students and new students in general, looking forward to meeting you all. Our next question is most of my classes are online, all but two. I wanted to do school remotely due to COVID. I know I was able to do classes through UNC, but is it possible that I took only those two classes through this institution and kept the rest of my classes with ECSU? And provost, I'll let you handle that one. I believe the question is, can the student take in the number three classes through ECSU and then two classes through UNC online, regardless of the mix, as long as you are enrolled in a course at ECSU and you are an ECSU student, you may take additional courses this semester through UNC online at another institution. Thank you, provost. Next question, are the COVID guidelines alike from the governor's request? So the COVID guidelines that we are using are from the CDC and also in-site based on data and science from our department, our state department of Health and Human Services. The governor's executive order, basically at this time in North Carolina is saying that there is a stay at home mandate executive order in place for anyone who lives or resides in North Carolina for 10 p.m. So that means everyone stay at their residence or wherever they're going to stay for the night up until, well, after 10 p.m. to adhere and be in compliance with this order. So 10 o'clock p.m., that's when the stay at home order goes in place in North Carolina. So that's a bit different than the CDC guidelines, but we are all expected to comply with the governor's executive order. The next question is, if I am not able to get online classes or UNC classes, then will I be forced to move back in on campus? What other options do I have? As I indicated previously, the spring schedule is already set in stone. So if, unfortunately, your course is not offered online or it is not offered through UNC online, then the only other option would be if you have a documented accommodation, need for an accommodation, then you may contact Felicia Brown, who's the director of Student Accessibility Services at 252-335-3642. You can submit your documentation and then she will determine if you will receive an accommodation for your course. If you don't have a documented accommodation and the course is not offered through ECSU online and is not offered through UNC online, then you will not be able to enroll in an online course this semester. Thank you, Provost. Next question is, can you complete new student orientation without a negative COVID test per Dr. Brown's update? New student orientation is a virtual orientation. So if you have tested positive for COVID, you should be in your quarantine space. So you will be able to join virtually our new student orientation. The next part of that question is when will I receive my ID? And Dr. Brown, did you wanna add to the first part and will you answer the second part as well, please? Yes, so as the chancellor said, new student orientation is fully virtual. So it doesn't require a negative COVID test. In terms of your ID, Auxiliary Services is the department who is responsible for your ID. There was information sent to each student's email addressed within the last week, directly from Auxiliary Services. I'm told that email had lots of detailed information about how you can receive your ID, how you can schedule appointments if you have lost or misplaced or broken your ID. And so please go back into your university issued email. Check that email out related to what Auxiliary Services said about your ID. If for some reason you are not able to find that information, feel free to give us a call tomorrow or to email us at deanofstudents at ecsu.edu so that we might be able to connect you with the appropriate party to address your concerns. Thank you, Dr. Brown. Our next question, will you release information that provides where we can get tested for free? I looked at some places and the test was over $200. So we cannot provide information for every county in North Carolina and beyond in regards to other states our students are coming from. However, what I can tell you is that in most cases by counties, the Department of Health in that county will have something on their website or number to call where they can provide insight on testing opportunities based on where you live. Another place you could go is the State Department of Health and Human Sciences website where they will have a compilation of places that are offering COVID testing as well. So I agree with you, I would not spend $200. I would look at these other opportunities for free testing because I know they're out there across the state. You just need to look at those websites to see what those testing areas where they are and when they offer as far as their hours each day. I know some of them are running commercials that are showing where testing is taking place for free and the hours that you can go. So keep that in mind and use this extra week which is why we're giving the extra week to do some of that research and try to find some places where you can be tested for free. The next question is, what if a student travels home on the weekend, will they be required to test before returning back to campus? V.C. Brown? So we are strongly encouraging you when you come to campus for your official move-in date between January 20th and the 24th, make a decision that you're gonna remain on campus, okay? We recognize that there are times when people do have to go home, that you do have to kind of go places but we really, really, really, we can only control the environment in which we're in and this is a safe environment which is why we're front-loading the semester with all the testing that we are facilitating. Now, student health will provide testing for students who want it or desire it. If for some reason you go home for a weekend or something and you return and you believe that you need to be tested and you certainly can schedule time with student health so that you might be tested. We're not gonna be requiring you to be tested. We certainly don't even really truly have a way to control that but it is important that you be responsible for your own health and for the health and health of others, okay? We're all accountable to each other so we would encourage you to make good decisions. We would encourage you to remain on campus as much as possible. We would encourage you not to put yourself in a position where your health is compromised nor the health of others is compromised either. And just to add to that, I know or I believe that is what made all the difference for us in the fall is building this culture of expectation, holding each other accountable for doing the right thing. That's what really made us experience a successful response to minimizing the spread of COVID on our campus and we wanna do that again for the spring and I believe our students, based on what I saw in the fall, they are ready to make this happen again and to do the right thing and to keep each other safe and keep our broader campus community safe. So thank you all who did that in the fall and made it good for everyone and I hope and pray that you were focused on doing the same thing this spring to keep our campus community safe as well. So thank you, V.C. Brown for that response. Next question, could you repeat the information about move-in dates? So move-in dates, we have moved, shifted our academic calendar back a week. Move-in dates will be January 20th through the 24th and classes will start on January 25th, which is a Monday. Again, move-in dates are January 20th through the 24th and classes will start on January 25th. We have moved back one week, move-in and the start of class to give you more time to get your testing done and to be prepared to move on to campus very successfully as we abide by our CDC guidelines and keeping our campus community safe. Next question is for students who might not feel safe attending classes face to face, are professors mandated to have online options for a course they will be teaching? And Provost, I know you talked about this, but you wanna address this one as well. Faculty are not mandated to have an online option for the courses that they are teaching. Again, if students have a documented illness or need for an accommodation, they can request the accommodation by contacting Felicia Brown at 252-335-7. 253-642, that will be the only instance where faculty will have to give an option for the student receiving their course material. Again, the course will not be converted to 100% online. They will just have to ensure that proper accommodations will be made so that students will get the course material. Thank you, Provost. Next question, what if our test results do not come back in time of our move-in date? That's why you have an extra week. Your test results must be back and must show that you have provided a negative result within three days of your move-in date, okay? So that's why use this extra week to your benefit, making sure that you have that negative result. If you have been around someone recently who has tested positive and you get a positive test, wait a few days, go test again to see if it remains positive or if it's negative. And so you need to give yourself some time there, and that's why we're giving you an extra week to prepare so that you are able to move in on campus based on that negative result that you get. So yes, please make sure that you give yourself you use this extra week wisely in making sure that you test and provide that when you show up on campus to move in that negative test result. So with the move-in dates being pushed back, will there still be room switches as well? And BC Brown, I'll let you address that from resident's life standpoint. Typically room changes occur about a month into each semester. And so you will receive guidance around the room change timeframe and how to make those sort of requests upon your arrival back to campus. But that process will not begin at the very beginning of the semester. It will likely start sometime in the month of February going into the month of March if there will be room changes. And room changes are based on availability. And certainly we won't be kind of making decisions just haphazardly at that time. So we encourage your patients and we also encourage you to settle in, get to know your roommates, okay? Negotiate your relationships, set expectations for what's supposed to happen in your space. Cause I recognize that many times those room changes are based on folks not really liking who it is and they've been assigned to live with. But if you just give each other an opportunity and a chance, negotiate some of those things, have some open and honest conversation, you'll find that the experience can be very, very helpful. And some lifelong relationships may be birthed in that timeframe, all right? Thank you. Thank you, BC Brown. Next question, will the bookstore be open all weekend for book pickup since we are starting classes on a Monday? Provost, do you have any insight? Go ahead. Students will, they may have already received a pickup time, they will receive a modified email with an additional pickup time so that students may pick up their books before the beginning of classes. So when you receive the email, there will be a specific window where students are expected to go pick up their books. Please arrive during that window that will help ensure that all students don't show up at one time and we can continue to maintain our social distancing. So again, please check your emails. You'll receive a modified email with a specific pickup time on when you can go to the bookstore to pick up your textbooks. Thank you, Provost. BC Brown, you addressed this earlier but I think it's good to reiterate for our commuter students. This question is, as a commuter student, do I have to get a COVID test to go to class? So we are strongly encouraging our commuters to be tested. We are not mandating or making a requirement that you must, but we are strongly encouraging you to do so, to know your status, to know whether or not you have it because that's the only way that we'll be able to ensure the safest environment. The only students who we are truly requiring that you must be tested are our residential students because of how close in close contact you'll be with each other in the residence halls. But we are strongly encouraging commuters to be tested during the days that have already been given. That's January 23rd from one to five, January 24th from 10 to five. Thank you, BC Brown. And also, commuter students, we had the kit that was provided if you were enrolled in the fall that had the the monitors in there and other things to utilize. So if you feel as though you're not feeling well, have a temperature, then that's when you make the decision that you need to stay home and get tested before you even come to campus. So just keeping that in mind that we're looking out for each other and trying to do the right thing. And that starts with understanding how you feel. And if you have any symptoms or have been around someone with COVID, just don't come to class. Let someone know that you're gonna be tested. And if it comes back positive, we'll be there to help you work through that on the academic side. Next question, what would the protocol be if we were to completely go into shutdown mode? Well, it would be similar to what was experienced in the spring when the pandemic happened started in spring of 20. When the pandemic started, we had to pivot to completely online. And so if something was to happen where we saw our numbers increasing significantly to the point where the spread was just uncontrollable on campus or within the community, then a decision like that would be made and we would have to pivot to all online. We were not experiencing that or we did not experience that in the fall, which we are grateful for because our students were still able to have some experience being on campus in the residence halls and they did a great job with that to the best of their ability under the circumstances. But if we see that we are seeing an increase in cases or within residence halls or within on campus, then yes, we will be looking at pivoting to completely online if that's the case. But we hope that is not the case based on what we saw in the fall. Will the Student Center be able to be used? Yes, our buildings will continue to be open but they will be open under the expectation of the protocols provided by CDC guidance in regards to social distancing and washing hands and things like that. So our facilities will be open as BC Brown mentioned. So there are places where students will still be able to gather safely it with social distancing and other things outside of being in the residence hall in the room itself. So you will still have somewhat of a social opportunity to do some of those things, but of course we want to make sure just as we did in the fall that everyone's following the rules and the protocols and keeping each other safe but still being able to have some type of social opportunity for our students to get to know each other and build this Viking family that we all are so proud of. Okay, what do we have in place to help us get through the semester? We can't have visitors nor do we have spring break. What can help students not have mental breakdowns during the semester? That is a great question because what we know is the fact that this pandemic has definitely impacted people very differently. And what I mean by that is a lot of people are suffering from that impact from the standpoint of their mental health. What we have done is provided a significant amount of mental health programming and opportunities virtual as well as some in-person to help students through this time of uncertainty and what we see as not being the norm that we're used to and how we behave and how we interact with each other. So this is real. It's real and we know that our students, some of them are really having a hard time dealing with this, our faculty, our staff and we're doing all we can to create a student experience that is mostly virtual but still engaging and still provides some activity for students. And I have to commend BC Brown and his team because they're at the front of this. I think they did a wonderful job in the fall under the circumstances. Our student body president, Mr. Jimmy Chambers has been very active and very engaged in making sure that our students have some type of experience. And it's just hard. It's hard because students deserve what they feel like this college experience should be. And that's not what they have right now and none of us can control that. We can only do what we can to make sure that we are paying attention to one another from the standpoint of encouragement and being there for one another and helping each other get through the pandemic and keeping us all safe. The numbers in North Carolina continue to grow but we know that there was no transmission across the UNC system, a COVID in the classrooms. And we know that a lot of the cases that occurred occurred due to social gatherings outside of campus and social gatherings in rooms that should not have been permitted. And so the data, the science, the things that we learned from the fall we are gonna be putting in place and making sure that our students are safe. But we hear you students. We know it's hard. It's hard on everyone. Things aren't the same but this too shall pass. And I'm excited about getting through this together and celebrating on the other end of it when we have some sense of normalcy. But our student affairs team led by Dr. Brown are doing a phenomenal job with what they can do. And I tell you that under these circumstances they have really done an awesome job in the fall and I look forward to their creativity and the things they're gonna do to involve our students for the spring. Our next question, what was the three day test that was mentioned throughout the session? What do I need to do to have it done? Where to have it done and when to have it done by? So the three day test is a requirement for those students who are moving on campus. So those are residential students that you must produce a negative COVID test, negative COVID test. Three days prior to your move-in date. And if you do not produce a negative COVID test that states you took it three days prior to your move-in date then you are not going to be able to move in. And if you come to campus and you do not have that negative COVID test and you test on campus and it comes back positive you're going to have to leave and go home for the isolation period, the quarantine period before you're able to come back. And we will work with you. Provost on the academic side, her team will work with you to make sure that you are keeping up with your academics but it is the three day window that is going to give you that ticket back on campus if you are a residential student. Will the pass fail option affect my eligibility for athletics, Provost? The answer to that is it actually depends. And so what I would suggest this individual do is contact ECSU, ECSU's new associate athletic director for compliance. The gentleman's name is Jacob Mullins and you can email him at jjmullins at ECSU.edu. Again, that's J-J-M-U-L-L-I-N-S at ECSU.edu. Email him directly and then he'll look at your specific situation and determine whether or not you will be affected by opting into the pass fail option if you are concerned about your athletic eligibility. Thank you, Provost. Next question, Dr. Brown, this one's for you. Is your ID appointment the same day as your original move-in date or will it change? And I believe you said it will be modified. Is that correct? Yes, auxiliary services should be in contact with you related to whatever your move-in, your ID appointment date was. I don't know if those things were coordinated. And so what I would say is email back the individuals who confirmed your ID appointment so that you might then coordinate that on your own because we don't know whether your date for your ID was coordinated with your move-in date. Is your move-in date more than likely was set well before your ID appointment was set? Thank you, Dr. Brown. Next question, I am a biology student at ECSU was wondering if there has been any work towards getting those students to have the ability to be online because I would really prefer having online experience this coming rather than coming onto campus. Is this semester an accelerated semester without any breaks? If so, will the school be offering another mental health day, Provost? So as I indicated previously, the spring schedule is set. And so if the course is currently not offered online for the spring semester, it will not be offered online this semester. Going forward, we have looked into additional science courses online. Again, that would not take place for the spring semester, but possibly in the future, we have purchased some lab software that does allow our biology faculty to do some of the labs virtually. But at this time, because of the requirement of the labs, the biology courses, if it indicates that they're offered face-to-face, that's how they will be offered. In terms of having breaks for the semester, I did indicate that we will not be having spring break. However, we will be having a mental health day every month. So there will be one in February, there will be one in March, and then there will be a third mental health day in April. So we will have three mental health days this semester. Thank you, Provost. Next question. My older sister is currently 24 weeks pregnant. I do not want to go home to get her sick. How will you help me? And Dr. Brown, I believe you wanted cases sent to the Dean of Students on a case-by-case basis. And we're here to help all of our students. So you want to say that Dean of Students email again or respond to that question in some way? Yes. The Dean of Students email addresses Dean of Students at ecsu.edu. And it's a little difficult to answer that question because you're not required to go home. You certainly have a place to stay during the semester if you're a residential student. And so we encourage you to do so and to use the technology that exists around us to keep connected with your family. Zoom, FaceTime, as several other software tools that are available to you to be able to do that. Although we do recognize that nothing beats kind of being in-person with someone right next to you. But we do want you to be safe. But if there's something we can help you with directly, feel free to email that email address. To email that email address I just gave you and we'll be sure to follow up. And I'll just reiterate that what Dr. Brown said, the UNC system campuses most, well, if not all are choosing not to have spring break just for that very reason because what we want to do is create what we did in the fall where we don't have students going back and forth and getting students on campus sit, getting their family members sit. So that's why the semester is designed the way it is so that we get our instructional hours in without spring break. So that you're able to keep your family safe as well as keep our campus community safe. So somewhat of a bubble here, but we can't mandate that you cannot go home, but it's gonna boil down to your individual decisions that you make, which goes back to what I said about holding each other accountable. And as Dr. Brown said, using social media and Zoom and other things to communicate with your family could definitely keep them safe and keep you safe. So think about those things and be creative. But if you decide to go home, that is your decision. But, you know, we're strongly encouraging our students to stay on campus and not to go back and forth so that we minimize the spread that way. Will I be able to register for my classes during orientation? Yes, during orientation, there will be a component where you will meet with your academic advisor. And at that time, you will receive your courses for the spring semester. Thank you. Another one for you, Provost. If you choose to take a class through the UNC system, does that require you, the student, to pay extra for said course for the courses? As long as you are an ECSU student and enrolled in ECSU classes, if you decide to take a course through UNC Online and another institution, you do not have to pay the additional fee. You will pay ECSU's tuition, ECSU's fees, and then you will be able to register for the course through UNC Online and take it at any of our sister institutions. So there will be no additional charge to you. Thank you, Provost. Next question is, will students have to pay for shipping of their textbooks if they are not returning back to campus? Yes, students will have to pay to return their books back to campus if they decide not to return. Okay, thank you. Next question is, can we still move in our regular move-in date if we schedule a COVID test prior to that date? I'm moving on the 15th and I got my COVID test scheduled for the 14th. The answer to that is no, you cannot move in earlier. You will be reassigned a move-in date and that move-in date will take place within the days of January 20th through the 24th. So I would suggest that you cancel your test as scheduled for the 14th because when your modified move-in date comes, you're going to need to test three days before you're moved to have a test result that shows three days before your move-in date. So with the change in the academic schedule now, we're pushing things back, pushing the start dates back a week. So classes will start Monday, January 25th and move-in now will take place January 20th through the 24th. This gives all of our students and campus community as a whole an extra week to have their testing done and results back, especially those who are moving on campus, residential students, three-day window. Your test has to show that your results are within the three-day window of your move-in. And as Dr. Brown mentioned, those modified schedules for move-in will be sent out to all of you so that you are aware. Can more money be put into outside spaces like benches, chairs, even an outdoor volleyball court. We are working to enhance the student experience on campus. We've come a very long way with some of the things that have already been done on campus. And I'm excited about some other things we're going to be doing on campus to enhance our student experience. But I do encourage you to talk to our president of student government, Mr. Jimmy Chambers and his executive team to talk a little bit about what some of those things look like. But I can assure you that we are moving in a great in the right direction at ECSU and the improvements that we have made on campus and are going to make, I believe you all are gonna really be happy with the student experience. The next one is, will the fitness room reopen? BC Brown. So initially upon arrival, the fitness center will not be open. It will eventually open as we progress in the semester. But we will continue to be attentive. We'll be sending out updates related to all things student engagement, all things fitness and wellness via Vikings Engage, as well as a student list moderator. So please be on the lookout for the announcements related to when the facilities will open, what the schedules will be, what the parameters will be of their usage. Thank you, BC Brown. Next question, if we were to go on shutdown and go home and finish online, will the school offer no refund at all? That's a good question and we don't know yet because when we went on, when we shipped it to online in March of 20, because of the start of the pandemic, we were able to, as a system, the UNC system, and we were one of 17 within the UNC system, make decisions around reimbursements of housing and dining. And of course that assistance also came from the Federal Government Cares Act. So it's difficult to answer that question right now, but I am sure based on what we have seen in the past, if we get to that point of having to pivot, those decisions will be made. Lot will be taken into that as to where we are in the semester, how many days we have to finish it out and other things that come into that methodology of making that decision. We will definitely let you know, but I am focused on us not shutting down because we're gonna do what we did in the fall and hold each other accountable and build a culture of expectation where we are doing the right thing, wear our mask, which are still required and washing our hands and social distancing. And that's how we're gonna make it through the semester. I'll just share that I had so many students as I walked across campus say, Chancellor, don't send us home, don't send us home. And I love my students, I love all of you and those of you I haven't met yet, I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to campus, but it is not our intention to send you home or shut down, but it is our responsibility to help you understand that we have to hold each other accountable and doing the right thing and we don't have to worry about being sent home if we all do that and we have proven to have done that in the fall, even though some universities were not able to continue on, we were and we were able to do so successfully with a low number of positive cases and we addressed those as they came and we were able to minimize the spread. So I want to see that happen again in the fall, I mean in the spring of 21. So last question is, will the field be open for outdoor workouts? And I'll let BC Brown add to this as well, but as BC Brown said in his presentation, we want the students to be able to gather on campus because they're not gonna be able to gather in their rooms because of having a roommate in there. So we want you to be able to gather on campus, but we want you to keep in mind that there is still a mandate for wearing masks and social distancing and washing hands. So if you are working outdoors, work out, we want you to stay physically fit, it does help with mental health when you're able to work out, but do so and make the right decisions. Do so if you're working out with your friend, put that distance between the two of you, you can still see each other, you can still work out, but make sure that you're keeping each other safe, look out for one another. And that's what's so important. So I believe those fields, those open spaces, those places on campus as BC Brown mentioned, where students are able to gather, do so, but do so understanding that the decisions you make definitely will impact how our campus is responding to minimizing the spread of COVID. And that's where you have to hold each other accountable. We all have to hold each other accountable as a campus community, and that's the only way we're gonna be able to make it happen. So BC Brown, any additional comments in regards to that question? No Chancellor, I think that's the perfect response. Outside it's always open. We just want you to be safe in using outside just like you would inside. Exactly. So this has been a wonderful conversation. I never thought that we would have been on for almost two hours, but BC Brown, Provost and myself have been very committed to making sure that we answered every question we got. And I tell you, we got a lot of them tonight. And that's a good thing because we want everyone to feel as though no question is a dumb question or a stupid question, every question matters. We wanna provide the insight that's gonna help you be prepared so there are no surprises when you show up to campus and just let you know that we're here for you. And we don't know what we don't know, but you let us know and you ask us if you don't know if you need clarification. Again, I want to thank Provost Ward for her leadership on the academic side. I wanna thank Vice Chancellor Dr. Gary Brown for his leadership on the student affairs side. I definitely have an awesome team. And the things that we have been able to do at ECSU in two years, some people say is miraculous. I say we have favor and we are doing what we can to make sure that our students have a wonderful experience, our faculty, our staff, we can't do this alone. It's gonna take all of us to do it again this spring. We had a great semester in the fall. As Dr. Brown said, we had a couple of challenges, a couple of hiccups, but we made it through. And making it through was what it's all about. And Vikings are resilient and we can get through this and we are making our mark and I'm excited to see what's to come at ECSU. But I just thank you for being engaged and these critical updates that were provided to you. We will send those out in writing. These guidelines and protocols are ever changing as it pertains to this COVID-19. But what's important is that we all stay on the same page and that's why these virtual town hall meetings are so important and it's important that we answer your questions in that same way. Just a reminder, the Viking Compass website is where you can find out anything about what's happening with COVID-19 on the campus of Elizabeth City State University. Go to that website if you have any questions, parents, students, if you want to see what our numbers look like as far as active cases, everything is on that website. We are being transparent. We are letting you know you can look at it. We're updating our data three days a week as far as active cases on campus and what we're doing, how many students or faculty or staff are in isolation, anything you can think of. We have that information there. And also remember to check your social media if something comes up, if we have to pivot or if something changes, check your social media, check email because I'm sending communiques out to the campus from the chancellor's office, from me. I'm gonna send out one tomorrow with the details of what we discussed tonight in regards to the modification of the academic calendar for the spring. And we are going to continue on as we have as resilient Vikings and I'm excited about that. We're gonna continue to follow CDC guidelines with especially being on campus in the classroom and the residence halls and just keeping each other safe and healthy as the priority. I also want to thank all of our Viking parents and family members and our Viking students, our new Vikings that are coming on board in a couple of weeks and welcoming you to the Viking family. Thank you all for a wonderful semester in the fall and for those of you who are coming to us for the first time in the spring, get ready because we're gonna make the best out of this situation despite what we're dealing with here. We're gonna be committed to making the best out of the situation and doing all we can to enhance this experience. So again, I look forward to seeing all of you in a few weeks, but thank you all and have a blessed night and Viking pride.