Dear Students,
The end of Week 9 brings more positive news! On Tuesday, Santa Clara County moved from the most-restrictive purple tier to the red tier of the Blueprint for a Safe Economy. The county has also lifted its mandatory requirement that those traveling to the county from more than 150 miles away quarantine for 10 days (although such quarantines are still strongly recommended). Closer to campus, the test positivity rate remains low, with only 1 positive case of the 2060 tests administered last week.
Academics
With Santa Clara County finally moved into California’s second-most-restrictive “red tier” for COVID-19 activity restrictions, we are making preparations to offer more in-person classes, especially in the fall term. For spring term — as professors get vaccinated and we finalize COVID-19 prevention measures to comply with current restrictions — we anticipate that approximately 10 percent of undergraduate courses will have a modified face-to-face component. Most of these modified face-to-face courses are being offered in the arts and natural sciences, and will be denoted as such in CourseAvail. We expect to be able to share more about our plans for fall 2021 academics in the coming weeks.
Next Friday, March 12, is the deadline to change grading options to Pass/No Pass and to withdraw from winter classes. To change grading options, select “SCU Manage Classes” on eCampus, and then select “Edit” and “Grading.” If you have any questions, contact the Drahmann Center at drahmanncenter@scu.edu. You can also schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Drahmann Center on its website.
International Students
Our new Shanghai Start Program for SCU international undergraduates in China launched this week for the winter/spring semester 2021. Students are taking courses as an SCU cohort through East China Normal University (ECNU) at ECNU’s Baoshan Academic Center including courses ranging from Business Ethics and Leadership to Introduction to Environmental Studies to Globalization & Urbanization. These students will join us on campus in-person in fall 2021.
Learning Commons and Library
- Reservable study space resumes finals week, Sunday, March 14 through Friday, March 19. Study space can be reserved online 24 hours in advance at https://www.scu.edu/rooms. Hours for reservable study during finals are:
- Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Reservable study space will be closed starting at 5 p.m. March 19 through April 4. The library will reopen for reservable study space starting April 5 (after spring term COVID-19 entry testing of campus is complete). Hours will be announced shortly.
- Other services for spring term.
The SCU community can continue to access library books and materials through the Library's electronic collections, pick-up service, residential mail delivery, and scanning service. Librarians are available to meet with students virtually for research assistance. Information about University Library services is available on the Library and Learning Commons Services Update page.
Campus Recreation
The parking garage weight room opened on Monday. Located on the first floor of the main parking structure in the southwest corner, this outdoor, socially distanced work out space is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, with plans to expand hours in spring term. Current capacity is 15 students and reservations are required to use the space. We hope that you make time to use the cardio machines, free weights, platforms or bench presses. For more information visit our Parking Garage Weight Room website.
Spring Term Housing
We expect to welcome an additional 650 students or so (450 of whom are first-year students) to our residence halls beginning March 24. Students who requested on-campus housing for spring term should have received their room assignments and move-in scheduling link on Thursday, March 4 — with 24 hours to cancel if their plans have changed and they no longer wish to live on campus. Students who did not receive their housing assignment should email housing@scu.edu.
Fall Term Housing
We are looking forward to a closer-to-normal year in 2021-22 and applications are open for all students for on-campus housing next year. Depending on your year in school, the application and process can be found via eCampus on the Housing Portal.
Dining
During spring term, several different dining stations—including Deli, Poke, Parilla, and Pacific Rim—will be open seven days a week in Benson Memorial Center to accommodate all food cravings and dietary restrictions. We will begin spring term using the mobile ordering app, and taking food to-go. In addition, Cellar Market will be open for students to purchase fresh produce and grocery items. Outdoor dining space will be available, with social distancing. As conditions continue to improve, we plan to gradually open the Benson Memorial Center for limited capacity indoor dining.
Mission Church
In-person Sunday Masses for students only will be celebrated at 5 p.m. at the Mission Church. Preregistration is required each week for these Masses. Reconciliation is also available at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
I hope as you wrap up your courses and finals for winter, you are beginning to feel a sense of hope and optimism that a return to near-normal campus life is within sight. We cannot thank enough those who have taken to heart the call to protect one another with COVID-19 safety precautions. While this pandemic is not yet behind us, we are delighted that our spring and fall terms will bring us all closer together in our residence halls and classrooms at long last.
Jeanne Rosenberger
Vice Provost for Student Life