July 17 Update from the Re-Opening Operations Team  

Dear Fellow Setonians,

This week's ROOT update includes important information for everyone in the Seton Hall community. We hope you find it useful as you plan for the remainder of the summer and the start of the academic year.

To ensure a successful semester, Seton Hall is asking each member of the campus community to take the Seton Hall Pledge. This pledge calls for everyone to take appropriate health precautions, including temperature monitoring, hand washing, wearing masks and social distancing. It reinforces our commitment to safe campus living and that we are ultimately responsible for each other's well-being.

Following the tenets of the pledge will have a major impact on our ability to prevent the coronavirus from affecting our community and our campuses. When students first arrive on our campuses, they will receive a copy of the pledge in welcome packages that include protective masks and hand sanitizer.

As we continue these and other preparations for the fall 2020 semester, essential administrators and staff members already have returned to working on our campuses. Seton Hall anticipates that most of the remaining administrators and staff members will return to campus on Monday, August 10. Naturally this is contingent on the State of New Jersey moving to Stage 3 of its reopening plan.

Much like last Friday's information session for faculty members, the University will host a similar Teams meeting for administrators and staff members at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21. Questions can be submitted in advance, and will be answered by us and President Nyre during the session. An invitation has been distributed.

As you may know, the federal government has rescinded a new rule that would have required international students to take at least some in-person courses to remain in the country. Seton Hall is proud to have opposed this rule by filing an amicus brief in a lawsuit brought against the government by Harvard and MIT. We value the many ways our international students add to the vibrancy of our University's intellectual and social life, and will continue to work to protect their ability to enjoy the benefits of a Seton Hall education.

Seton Hall is in contact with the state's Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) about the University's draft restart plan. We will provide you additional information and details next week as we finalize the plan.

The University has received a significant response to its survey gauging students' instructional preference for the fall semester. Of 4,242 undergraduate responses, 81.7 percent indicated a preference for on-campus HyFlex learning as of July 16, as did 58.7 percent of 1,017 graduate student responses. We encourage students to take the survey if they have not already done so, or if their preference has changed, to submit a new response.

As always, we are monitoring the progress of the coronavirus with our community's health and safety foremost in mind. Please follow the Planning for Fall 2020 website for the latest information.

Hazard Zet Forward,

Katia Passerini, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President

Shawna Cooper-Gibson, Ed.D.
Vice President of Student Services

Co-chairs Re-Opening Operations Team (ROOT)

Categories: Campus Life