July 31, 2020
Dear students,
With so many of you coming to campus in less than a month, we know that you are eager for information about moving in. Much of that information, including the date you can arrive, has depended on evolving quarantine and testing requirements set by the State of Connecticut and other authorities, as well as Yale’s own public health experts.
We are now able to share with you details about quarantine requirements depending on the origin of your travel to campus; instructions and recommendations for your arrival; and options for reviewing and even changing your plans in the weeks ahead. At the end of this message, you will find an assigned date for your arrival.
You have also received a message from Provost Stephanie Spangler that tells you more about viral testing requirements. Please read Provost Spangler's message and this one carefully and discuss both with your parents and guardians. This message is for all students who will be living on campus; students living off campus will receive a separate but similar one.
Understand the length of your arrival quarantine
Everyone must enter quarantine on arrival to campus, regardless of prior testing, quarantining, or arrival date in Connecticut. No one is exempt.
If you are traveling from a restricted state, as determined by the State of Connecticut, or if you are arriving from outside the country, you must quarantine for 14 days, starting on your assigned move-in date, below, as soon as you complete your on-campus viral test and pick up the key to your room. You must also complete a travel form for the State of Connecticut, available here.
If you are traveling from a state that is not restricted, you have a choice. You may arrive during the week of August 24, on your assigned move-in date, below, and quarantine with the other students. Or, you may instead delay your arrival until after the other students’ arrival quarantine period has ended; at that point, you will need to quarantine while you await the result of your initial on-campus viral test, 24 to 36 hours.
Understand the rules of the 14-day arrival quarantine
When you arrive, you will need to stay in your suite for approximately 24 to 36 hours while you await the result of your initial on-campus viral test. After you receive a negative result AND for the duration of the 14-day arrival quarantine period, you will need to stay in your residential college or your other assigned on-campus housing. You will not be able to have visitors in your suite, but if you are living in a residential college, you will have access to its courtyard and any of its communal spaces that are open as long as you follow social distancing guidelines, including using a face covering. If you will be living on Old Campus, you will have access to the courtyard outside, but you will not be able to visit buildings other than your own. Dining halls may not be open during the arrival quarantine, but dining services will provide food, which you will be able to order beforehand.
It is very important for you to understand that for the duration of the arrival quarantine you will not be able to leave your residential college, or the Old Campus if you are housed there. You will not be able to go elsewhere on campus or in town. Breaking quarantine would be a serious violation of the community compact, with serious consequences: possible removal from campus and a $1,000 fine from the State of Connecticut.
Finalize housing assignments
If you are a junior or a senior, or a sophomore with special permission to live on campus, the office of student affairs will soon send your housing assignment and ask you to accept it, decline it, or ask if other options are available. Because so much planning depends on finalizing the housing assignments, please respond to that request promptly. First-year housing assignments will be made in mid-August.
Take online health and safety training
Early next week, Yale will make available online training that provides COVID-related information about health and safety. You will need to complete the training before you can use Student Information Systems (SIS) and register for classes. The training will be available on Canvas, Yale's learning management system.
Understand the community compact
The community compact is an essential component of our efforts to keep the community safe. Please read it carefully; do not just click through it. You will be expected to understand it and fulfill the commitments you make when you sign it. Yale College will enforce the compact, but it will also provide the community with guidance, support, and education about the compact because of its importance to public health.
Take a viral test at home
Although you will be tested for COVID-19 the day you arrive on campus, you will also be asked to take a viral test at home one to two weeks before you arrive. Yale Health will e-mail instructions for obtaining this test, which will be paid for by the university. For additional information, please review the COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines.
Pack
Pack light, keeping in mind that residences will close at the Thanksgiving break, before typical New England winter weather sets in. Packing light will also make it easier for you to leave campus if you change to remote enrollment after the semester starts, or if public health officials require students to leave. Each suite will be provided with a refrigerator and a microwave oven.
Because you will need to move temporarily to isolation housing if you have a viral test that returns positive results, it's a good idea to bring a small bag for essential belongings if you need to be relocated on campus. You can bring your own face coverings if you like, but the university will provide those, along with thermometers and hand sanitizer.
Review your move-in date
Because so many people will need to be tested on arrival, everyone has been assigned a move-in date in order to balance testing capacity across several days.
If you are unable to move in on your assigned date, or if you are delaying your arrival because you are traveling from a state that is not restricted and wish to arrive after the 14-day quarantine period, you may request a different date. If you need to request another date, please click here by August 15, 2020.
Review your move-in plan
Once the housing assignments are finalized, you will also receive a two-hour arrival window for your move-in date, in order to maintain social distancing during the arrival process. You will be able to change your assigned move-in time if you need to do so.
Parents and guardians may accompany you and help you move in only if they are not arriving from a restricted state (passing through them is permissible), or if they are arriving from outside the country and have satisfied federal guidelines for international arrivals.
After your arrival window has closed, anyone accompanying you will need to leave the premises so that other students can move in.
Finally, keep in mind that if you want to change your plans, you can, but you do not need to decide anything right now. You are currently enrolled in residence, with on-campus housing. If you want to review or change your current status at any point before the semester begins, you will be able to do so in Student Information Systems (SIS), which is available here; your term bill and financial aid package will be adjusted accordingly.
We are grateful to you all for your patience and understanding as the university plans for your arrival. The effort to open campus is extraordinary, truly a communal effort, and it includes not only the faculty and staff but you as well, with the support of your parents and guardians. The semester ahead has many questions still. As answers become available, we will share them with you. And whether you will be coming to campus in the fall or enrolling remotely, we look forward to starting the semester together with you.
With best wishes from New Haven,
Marvin M. Chun
Dean of Yale College
Richard M. Colgate Professor of Psychology; Neuroscience; Cognitive Science
he/him/his
Melanie Boyd
Dean of Student Affairs
Senior Associate Dean in Yale College
she/her/hers