Dear North Central College Campus Community,

College faculty and staff have been hard at work preparing for a safe and healthy start to the 2020-2021 academic year. When you arrive to campus, you will see and experience a number of changes that are part of the College’s multi-faceted health and safety plans and protocols. Rest assured, what hasn’t changed is that the North Central College campus is still a wonderful place to learn, live, work and make lasting memories.

The College has made incredible progress in our preparations to open campus for the fall semester. For campus to stay open, it will take everyone’s individual and collective efforts. To help you envision and prepare for some of the College’s new health and safety measures—such as wearing face coverings, social distancing, frequent hand-washing, enhanced cleaning and safety measures, and staying home when sick—I am pleased to introduce you (both in this writing and in the video itself) to our new #TogetherNC video series and social media campaign with the first video: What’s New on Campus.

Additional videos in the series will be shared in the lead up to the start of classes. Subscribe to the North Central College YouTube channel and follow the College on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to view the videos and messages as soon as they come out. The Dyson Wellness Center will follow up with additional messages over the next couple weeks highlighting various aspects of the #TogetherNC campaign.

You can also check for regularly updated information and answers to your questions about returning to campus on the #TogetherNC website at covid.northcentralcollege.edu.

Upon arriving to campus all students, faculty and staff will get a free North Central face covering. Remember to arrive to campus wearing your own face covering and always have a backup. Additional North Central face coverings will be available for purchase in the Campus Store.

Also, as I mentioned last week in my message about the College’s COVID-19 testing plans, the College, in accordance with CDC and local health guidelines, recommends the following before returning to campus:

• Get tested for COVID-19; if you test positive, let the College know by filling out a COVID-19 Reporting Form;
• Self-quarantine for at least 14 days before arriving on campus and monitor yourself for COVID-19 symptoms; if you are feeling symptoms, don’t come to campus until your symptoms have subsided and you’ve been medically cleared to do so;
• Develop a daily routine to check for COVID-19 symptoms; the College plans to introduce a mobile app in the next couple weeks to help you with daily COVID-19 symptom monitoring and tracking.

If you have not yet agreed to the #TogetherNC pledge, please do so before arriving to campus. Students can access the pledge through the Safe Colleges link they received in their North Central email and faculty and staff can do so via their PeopleAdmin records checklist.

Keep in mind there may be adjustments to campus plans as we continue to monitor national, state and local health guidance. Continue checking covid.northcentralcollege.edu for updates.

I wish you and your families good health and I look forward to seeing you soon!

#TogetherNC,

Troy D. Hammond

President
Professor of Physics
North Central College