Dear students living on campus,

Many of you have already started planning your departure from campus before residences close on Saturday, November 21, at 2:00 p.m. If you are considering leaving campus early, you may do so, as long as you are not in isolation or contact quarantine. If you are in isolation, stay where you are until you are cleared for travel by Yale Health. If you are in contact quarantine, there are some limited circumstances under which you may leave; talk with your dean to explore them. If you are not in isolation or contact quarantine, take a test no more than 72 hours before your planned departure, then wait to receive a negative result before you leave.

What follows are steps that you will need to take before you leave campus, whether or not you intend to return in the spring. Please read this message carefully, along with the move-out FAQs available here. Your residential college will also be providing their own specific instructions.

Checkout

New for everyone is the need to complete a check-out process through a portal, available here. When you check out, you will be able to communicate your planned move-out day, reserve a time for bringing your belongings to trucks designated for your college if you are not returning in the spring, and work through a checklist for packing your belongings and departing your room. You will likely return to the portal several times at different stages over several days before you complete the final step in the last few minutes before you leave your housing.

Packing

Plan to take as many things home with you as possible, valuables especially, in case the university does not open in the spring as planned. Boxes, packing supplies, and required pre-printed labels are available from your residential college. Items you leave -- in storage if you are not returning in the spring, in your current room if you are – will not be available until you are able to return to campus. Everything must be packed in boxes or tagged.

Storage

If you will not be returning in the spring, storage is available to you at no cost. (If you are returning to live on campus in the spring, you do not need storage; leave your belongings in your room; if you are moving to a new room, they will be moved for you.) You will not have access to belongings in storage until your class is invited back to campus, so only store items you are sure you will not need while you are away.

Appointments to store your belongings are available beginning on Monday November 16; if you must leave earlier than that, you may leave your belongings for storage in your room. If you are a first-year and have applied for spring housing, you will be notified very soon. If you have to leave before you receive your notification, prepare your items for storage, but leave them in your room. If you have received permission to be on campus after November 21 or during recess, follow the instructions you receive in your notification.

Insurance

Items you store are covered against loss or damage by Yale for a maximum total of $100, and those you leave in your room are not covered at all; they might, however, be covered by your

family’s homeowners' or renters' policies. If you are not sure, you can purchase your own, either on your own or through Yale's recommended “Personal Belonging Coverage,” which offers a range of coverage limits and deductible options, and will be in effect until 9/1/2021.

Keys

Make sure you return your key, even if you will be returning in the spring, following instructions you receive from your residential college.

You can find answers to other questions on Yale College's FAQ page. If you still have questions after reading it, please write to student.affairs@yale.edu.

Sincerely,

Melanie Boyd
Dean of Student Affairs Senior Associate Dean in Yale College
she | her | hers