Preparing to Return to Campus
When packing, don’t forget to bring your favorite COVID-19 personal safety supplies (thermometer; face coverings; hand sanitizer; disinfectant wipes; fever, cold and flu medicines, etc.).
If you will be living with roommates, talk to them ahead of time to exchange information and make contingency plans to ensure you have compatible strategies for forming your own “COVID-19 community rules” and being considerate of each other’s safety, health, and well-being. See the CDC’s guide for shared housing and the CDC’s household planning guide for ideas.
Whether you’ll be driving or flying to come to campus this fall, planning and timing for travel in pandemic conditions is different. It’s best to allow more time and plan more carefully to have the safest, smoothest trip. See the CDC’s traveler’s site for travel tips and ideas.
With special rules in place for air travel from country to country, state to state, and city to city, you will want to do some research and plan ahead for your travel to NSU this fall semester/term. Please check the CDC’s traveler’s site for any quarantine rules that may be in place upon your arrival and plan accordingly.
International Students
If you are unable to secure an F-1 or J-1 visa due to U.S. Embassy closures, or you are unable to fly to the United States due to travel restrictions, in most cases you may choose to begin your classes remotely until embassies reopen and visa appointments are available or travel bans are lifted. Contact the Office of International Affairs (intl@nova.edu) for additional guidance regarding the validity or the possible reissuance of your I-20.
Required COVID-19 Training
All students, faculty, and staff will be required to complete a training module as part of their return to campus. The online training module will be made available before July 27, 2020. You will receive a separate email or Canvas notification that the training is available and it must be completed before classes begin.
NSU will monitor to ensure that students have completed their Return of the Sharks training, and if students have not completed training before August 17, they will be referred to the office of the assistant dean for student development. For details on your responsibilities, please refer to the student handbook.
Individual responsibility and a commitment to abide by health guidelines is key to the success of our efforts to promote a healthy and safer NSU community. The training module will encourage a partnership among members of the university community to practice safety and responsibility in their actions and choices to assist with the protection of campus.
Institutional controls are only as effective as the willingness of individuals to carry them out. It will be imperative for everyone—students, faculty, and staff—to take responsibility for our actions and adhere to the guidelines of the Florida Department of Health, local governmental agencies, the CDC, as well as guidelines issued by NSU medical and safety experts to protect one’s self and others.
In the event a student fails to comply with these guidelines, you will be counseled by your college or by the Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs regarding the importance of compliance. Repeated violations may result in immediate revocation of building access privileges and a referral for disciplinary action in accordance with the Code of Student Conduct and Academic Responsibility.
Arriving on Campus
To promote physical distancing and touch-free processing, many campus student services will be made available online, including getting your NSU Shark (ID) cards and parking decals. For residence hall students, all transactions other than key retrieval can also be processed online. Watch your student email or Canvas account for specific directions.
Student Orientations
For undergraduate students, NSU will still hold its annual Undergraduate Student Orientation event on Thursday, August 13, but formatted for smaller group assemblies to maintain physical distancing for participants. Additionally, for full-time undergraduate students registered for in-person classes, your first class meeting will be held online using NSU’s Zoom platform. Check Canvas for details. For graduate, doctoral, and professional students at any of NSU’s campus locations, please watch for emails from your college for details on orientations or other fall semester/term activities.