March 20: Memo to students regarding residence departures

MEMORANDUM

To:    Dalhousie students and parents

From:   Ivan Joseph, Vice-Provost Student Affairs

             Heather Sutherland, Assistant Vice-President Ancillary Services

Date:    Friday, March 20, 2020

Re:        Further information about residence departures

Dear students and parents,

We are writing to follow up on our communication yesterday (March 19), regarding Dalhousie students moving out of residence and travelling home.

First and foremost, no one will be sent away without a place to go.

Your wellbeing is our primary concern, and we are doing everything we can to keep you safe. We are also trying to do our part in the global public health effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

We will not ask anyone to leave residence who cannot return home or enter their country due to travel restrictions or significant personal reasons.

That said, we need everyone to do their part for the public good. If you are able to return home, please make arrangements to do so as soon as possible. Alternatively, if it is possible for you to arrange to live off campus temporarily, that option is preferable to you staying in residence. 

Your efforts to relocate are important. Public health experts have advised us that university residences are not an ideal living location at this time. With many shared spaces, such as washrooms and common areas, students in residences are at heightened risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

Regarding the exemption requests many of you sent yesterday to residence@dal.ca, our residence staff has been working tirelessly to address all incoming emails.

The large volume of requests has taken some time to get through, but all requests should have received a response by now. Please check your Dal email account and let us know if you have not heard back.  

Finally, if you are in a situation where you need to stay on campus, rest assured we are taking extra steps to provide a safe, sanitary environment to complement the practice of social distancing.

A crisis like this is a time of shared concern and shared responsibility. Reducing high-density living is a major countermeasure to the spread of the virus. We appreciate all of you doing your part to keep yourself, your peers and your community safe.

Please contact us any time if we can offer assistance. We will keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Ivan Joseph, Vice-Provost, Student Affairs

Heather Sutherland, Assistant Vice-President Ancillary Services