Fall 2020 Updates

Duke Families,

In an effort to keep families up-to-date during this time, we’ve compiled a brief newsletter with recent updates from Duke. Some of the items below—particularly orientation events—will be further clarified with more information in the weeks to come.

As always, we will continue to communicate with families as more decisions are made. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to our team if we can support your family: familyprograms@duke.edu.

- Parent and Family Programs

Important Dates

July 27 • Bookbagging begins
July 27 • New Student Orientation - Part 1 begins (asynchronous)
July 27 • Parent and Family Orientation begins (asynchronous)
July 31-August 2 • Virtual Pre-Orientation programs (optional)
August 11 & 12 • Class of 2024 Academic Course Registration
August 13-16 • New Student Orientation - Part 2
August 17 • First Day of Classes

Orientation

Parent and Family Orientation

This year, Parent and Family Orientation will occur virtually. We hope you will join us online to connect with Duke community members, learn more about Duke’s academic philosophy and student experience, and have your questions answered.

A full schedule of Parent & Family Orientation 2020 will be posted soon. Sessions—which will be a mixture of live and pre-recorded—will occur throughout the last week of July and the first weeks of August leading up to the start of classes. All live sessions will also be recorded and posted for families to view at a later date.

New Student Orientation

This year, New Student Orientation will consist of two parts designed to help your student learn about Duke and build connections with their peers.

Part 1 (beginning July 27): Students will receive video content that they can view whenever works best for them, which will highlight resources and key information to help students get started.

Part 2 (August 13-16): The student orientation experience will continue with virtual sessions focused on academics, community building, health and wellness, diversity and inclusion, and more. Students will also participate in virtual live discussions in small groups. As you read in President Price's message from May 29, Duke hopes to offer some on-campus experiences for residential students, but only if it can be done safely.

Pre-Orientation Programs

Duke is thrilled to announce virtual pre-orientation experiences. Student leaders across each pre-orientation program have been working hard to develop new and creative ways to build community and connect with students this summer.

Pre-Os will take place between July 31 and August 2 for Projects Arts, BUILD, Edge, Search, and WILD. Any incoming student will be able to sign up for one program of their choice between July 1-7. More detailed program descriptions will be shared with students when the sign-up launches. *These programs are completely optional.

Move-In

Information related to move-in for the Class of 2024 has not yet been determined. We will be sure to let you know this information as soon as possible!

Housing

First-Year Housing Clarification

Due to the unique nature of the coming semester, first-year students have the option to decline campus housing for this academic year. They will need to go to the housing portal and complete the Decline Housing form under 2020-2021 Upperclass Housing forms. After doing so, their housing assignment for Fall 2020/Spring 2021 semesters will be canceled.

If your student is declining housing but hopes to live on campus beginning this spring, there will be an additional housing assignment process later. Currently, Duke is unable to guarantee what availability will be in the spring.

Frequently Asked Questions

In an effort to clarify the Fall 2020 housing process, Housing and Residence Life (HRL) has developed a Fall 2020 Housing landing page and FAQ.

If your family still has outstanding questions about housing, please email housing@duke.edu.

Duke Common Experience Book

Your student will soon receive a copy of Duke's common read book: Know My Name, a memoir by Chanel Miller. For those with a U.S. address, books will arrive in the mail. International students will be receiving a code for an e-book via their Duke email address.

Please note the book contains content that may not be appropriate for younger siblings. We will share additional information with you about Know My Name later this week.

Academics

New Academic Calendar

The updated academic calendar is now posted and reflects changes announced by the President in late June.

Revised Class Schedules

To prepare for the fall, courses are being restructured and rescheduled. Fall 2020 courses will be posted by late July in time for bookbagging, the process through which students add potential courses to their fall schedule in a virtual “bookbag."

When the revised schedule is posted, information on whether classes are in-person, hybrid, or online will be included. Most classes will have an online format or have an online counterpart to accommodate students who may not be able to physically attend class.

Advising & Registration

Each student is assigned a designated registration window in DukeHub based on their Student ID. First-year students will register on either August 11 or 12.

Trinity students will be able to speak with their assigned college advisor—who will be assigned in late July—or an advisor from the Academic Advising Center prior to registration.

More information is forthcoming for first-year Pratt students.

Summer Transition Series - Advising

If you or your students have more questions, we also encourage watching the Summer Transition Series advising videos (Pratt and Trinity) and webinars (Pratt and Trinity).

Duke Parents on Social Media

As a reminder, we welcome you to join the official Class of 2024 Parents and Families Facebook Group. This provides an opportunity to engage with other Duke families in a fun and informative setting.

* In order to join this closed group, you will have to click the "Join Group" button at the top of the page and respond to all of the security questions. We cannot approve families to join without confirming your connection to a 2024 student.

You can also keep up-to-date with campus happenings by following Parent and Family Programs on Twitter @DukeParents.