Friday, July 10, 2020

To expand on the information included in “Best for the Nest: A Guide for Returning to Campus” (PDF), UNCW has developed the “Best for the Nest” website to bring together information from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Business Affairs, Human Resources, the Student Health Center, Campus Dining, Environmental Health and Safety, and other campus departments and offices.

The site, which will be updated as circumstances evolve, includes an FAQ section designed to address many common inquiries about the university’s strategies and safeguards to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This section cannot contain every question and answer that might be meaningful to a member of our campus community. If you don’t see the information you need on the site or in the guide, please submit your question to bestforthenest@uncw.edu.

The “Best for the Nest” website outlines additional components of UNCW’s current plans for the fall, including:

• Academic course scheduling: At present, the university plans to offer a combination of face-to-face, hybrid and online courses to empower students to continue pursuing their educational goals despite challenging situations caused by the pandemic.
• Housing, dining and campus life: Drop-Off and Move-In information, new dining options and more.
• Health and safety: Face covering requirements, daily personal health assessments, symptom self-monitoring and reporting, testing/tracing protocols, signage and more.
• Updates and resources: Relevant campus messages, links to a variety of useful resources, and the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

While UNCW is dedicated to implementing necessary health and safety precautions throughout the coming months, we cannot guarantee what shape or path COVID-19 will take. No one, including UNCW, can guarantee a COVID-19-free environment, and we must remind you, in the spirit of complete transparency, that returning to our campus in person means there is a risk you may contract COVID-19. Because of this, all of us must participate in protecting the health of ourselves and others. We expect every member of the UNCW community to commit to the safeguards outlined via the “Best for the Nest” website and guide. We also encourage you to share this information with your families so they will have ready resources for our current plans and future updates.

Your health and well-being are paramount now and always, and we will continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation in North Carolina, as well as nationally and internationally, to enhance the safety of our campus and community. We are dedicated to making informed decisions in a thoughtful and supportive manner that considers the needs of more than 17,500 students and 2,100 employees. You already have shown a great deal of patience throughout this situation, and we thank you for that Seahawk spirit, which has sustained our university for over 70 years. We will get through this latest challenge together, and we look forward to seeing you on campus soon.