Five things to know for the Spring 2021 semester
With the beginning of the new semester comes a new set of questions about what the semester will look.
Many students have questions about move-in, COVID-19 guidelines and wellness days.
Here are the answers to some of the most asked questions about the Spring 2021 semester.
When can students move back into their dorms?
Residence halls reopen at 9 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 15.
Students should check their emails for an update from the Office of Residence Life on how to make an appointment to move back in.
If the student is not returning to campus for the spring semester, they need to email their Residence Hall director.
More information can be found on the Fired Up For Spring page under Information for Students and Families.
When is the deadline to drop/withdraw from classes?
According to the Registrars Calendar students have until Jan. 15 to withdraw from a class and receive a full refund.
After January 15, students can withdraw from a class until May 19, but they will not receive a refund.
If students withdraw from a course after Jan.15, a grade of "W" will be marked on your transcripts.
In a recent email, Provost Mary Schutten added to this, saying, "Undergraduate students have the option to request to change their course grading method in one or more courses to Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) through May 19, 2021."
What are the COVID-19 guidelines for this semester?
For the spring semester, COVID-19 guidelines will be the same as the fall semester.
Masks are required in all public university areas, as well as outside when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Students are encouraged to practice social distancing, as well as frequent hand washing, cough/sneeze etiquette and other practices recommended by the Center for Disease Control.
Students, faculty and staff are required to use the CMU Health Screening app to self-screen for symptoms of COVID-19 before coming to campus.
More details are available on the Fired Up For Spring website under Health and Safety Protocols.
When can students, faculty and staff get the vaccine? Will vaccines be available to students?
"Our goal is to make the vaccine available to every faculty, staff and student who wants to receive it as soon as possible, while remaining within the guidelines set by the CDC and MDHHS," President Bob Davies said in an email to the CMU community.
Although some specifics on vaccines at CMU are unknown, the vaccines are being distributed in phases.
These phases are:
- Phase 1A — this includes health care workers with direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials, as well as residents of long-term care facilities.
- Phase 1B — this includes frontline essential workers — this can be K-12 educators, emergency services and more — as well as individuals 65 years of age or older.
- Phase 1C — this includes people at high risk for severe COVID-related illness due to underlying medical conditions.
- Phase 2 — this covers most individuals aged 16 years and older.
Students are encouraged to check their emails and the Fired Up For Spring website regularly for updates on the vaccine distribution timeline.
Many of CMU’s frontline medical workers, including teams at CMU Health and third- and fourth-year medical students, have received their first dose of the vaccine, according to Davies's email.
As part of the early Phase 1B distribution, the CMU Police Department staff also received the first dose of the vaccine last week. CMUPD Lt. Michael Sienkiewicz said everyone at the department was offered a vaccine but some choose not to get the shot. He estimates 85 percent of the staff received the first dose.
More information can be found on the Fired Up For Spring under COVID-19 Vaccines.
When are wellness days?
There are seven total wellness days scheduled for the spring semester.
The dates chosen are the following:
- Thursday, Feb. 4
- Monday, Feb. 22
- Wednesday, March 10
- Tuesday, March 23
- Friday, April 2
- Wednesday, April 7
- Friday, April 30
"These dates are intended to provide time away from homework, class activities and meetings and other stressors, so students and faculty can enjoy a much-needed and well-deserved break," Schutten said in an email to students.
For more information about when the wellness days are, as well as other important dates, check the Academic Calendar.
