Dear student,
Our goal in Housing and Residence Life continues to be to create a residential environment in Fall 2020 that protects the health and wellbeing of our community members while maintaining the unique elements of on-campus life to the extent possible during the pandemic. Please read the information below carefully.
Important Updates
This month, Duke has leased another brand-new apartment complex, The Avana, in which juniors and seniors are eligible to live. A short five-minute drive from the Blue Zone, The Avana, located at 2709 Western Bypass, features 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments. As with the Blue Light and the Washington Duke Inn, this addition allows us to offer more residential choices than ever before to our on-campus students.
Another important update is that the first-year communities on West Campus have expanded to include Edens, Keohane and Wannamaker. This allows HRL to assign all first-year students not on varsity athletic teams to single bedrooms in dedicated first-year communities on East and West. (Students on varsity teams will live with their teams.) The University recognizes that first-year students typically benefit from the experience of living with and learning in shared rooms, but at this time we want to ensure that students who do not yet have practice navigating life with a college roommate are able to maintain a greater degree control over their living environment.
Many returning students will be living in singles, though some will be assigned to doubles. Returning Duke students often have the advantage of living with someone they know and with whom they have a high comfort level, including shared expectations and communications skills. For the coming year, we believe this approach of providing only returning Duke students with the opportunity to live with one another is in the best interest of our community.
Move-In Process
As you know, move-in will be very different in comparison to previous years. We will have a set number of students returning on each day of the move-in period to allow for proper social distancing and to support arrival testing and isolation protocols. More details will be shared in the coming days, but the process will be as follows:
Visit Penn Pavilion at your assigned time to:
- Undergo symptom check conducted by Student Health.
- Receive masks, thermometer, and other health related items/information.
- Be tested for COVID-19 by Student Health.
- Once test is completed, your DukeCard will be activated. IMPORTANT – until you complete this step, your DukeCard will not be enabled for any use (access, food points, etc.).
- Complete check-in process for your residence hall and pick up room key.
- Receive permit for loading zone for your building.
- Drive vehicle to unloading zone, move items as needed into your room, and remove your vehicle from the unloading zone.
First year students will be moving in from August 7-10 and upperclass students will arrive August 10-15. To sign up for your move-in day, please go to the Housing Portal and select "Move-In Sign Up". Later this month, you will receive information regarding how to sign up for a specific testing time on your selected move-in date. Again, there is a limit to how many students can move in each day, and, while our goal is to accommodate your selected move-in date, we cannot guarantee that you will be able to move in at any particular date or time.
Move-in Expectations
To help you prepare for move-in, we wanted to share the following information. Additional details are to come.
- Students may be accompanied by up to two individuals to assist with move-in. These individuals will not be permitted to go to Penn Pavilion with you, and will be expected to wear face coverings, wash hands often, and maintain social distance. Individuals experiencing possible symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to stay away from campus during move-in.
- If you need disability accommodations for move-in, please contact the Student Disability Access Office at sdao@duke.edu or 919-668-1267.
- Everyone must wear a face covering while on campus.
- No overnight visitors will be allowed during move-in week or during the fall semester.
- Students are strongly encouraged to bring only necessary items needed for the fall term. Please leave extraneous items at home.
- Once move-in is complete, students will be expected to sequester in their room with limited movement around campus until they receive their test results (estimate this will take 48 hours). In the coming days, students residing on campus will receive information about behavioral expectations for this period and the ways essential services will be provided, including food service.
Fall Assignment
We are working hard to complete the assignment process as quickly as possible. Given the addition of new bed spaces, you will now hear from us by July 20.
For those of you who utilized the pack/ship/store program, we are organizing now for items to begin their return to campus on July 27. Our goal is to have items into student rooms by August 15, but with thousands of items in need of return, it will be a challenge, and your understanding as this process unfolds remains greatly appreciated.
As President Price noted, this is an unprecedented moment for Duke. The health of every member of the Duke community will be a shared priority for us all. It will take the entire Duke community working together and supporting each other’s health by our actions and choices to overcome these challenges. Every Blue Devil is in this together.
We look forward to welcoming you back to campus. Please continue to monitor your Duke email for further communications regarding your residential life experience and the upcoming academic year.
Sincerely,
Joe Gonzalez
