Information to Casa Artom Students Regarding Your Return To Campus

This message was sent by Zach Blackmon, Associate Director of Operations for Residence Life & Housing on March 2:

Good Afternoon –

I hope this message finds you well! I’m writing to follow-up regarding your return to the Reynolda Campus of Wake Forest University for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester.

First, we recognize that this was not in your original semester plans. Along with our many campus partners, the Office of Residence Life and Housing is committed to working with each of you to ensure that the transition goes smoothly.

Housing Update

In terms of housing, each of you has worked with Dr. West to select an on-campus assignment.  You’ve also been assigned a meal plan that will provide you with 55 meal swipes, including 20 Old Gold swipes, and $300 food dollars. These amounts are equivalent to half of the full semester offerings for continuing residential students and are being provided at no additional charge to you due to the circumstances regarding Casa Artom’s closure.

As we create your assignment, you will see charges for housing and meal plans appear on your student account. We are coordinating closely with our partners in Student Financial Services to ensure those charges are credited off your student account on the same day to ensure you see no overall change in your student account balance. For you and your families, this does mean you will see a charge, followed by a credit for both housing and meal plans, but your semester balance will remain unaffected at the conclusion of this administrative process.

Once assigned, we will begin communicating with your new roommates. You will be copied on those messages. This communication will include information from our partners in Student Health Service to address any concerns regarding COVID-19.

Should you want to change your housing assignment, there are several options outlined below:

1. Changes prior to your arrival on March 15: Please email your request to eaneska@wfu.edu with as much specific information as possible. Approved changes will be confirmed to you in writing by our office.
2. Students wishing to move off-campus: Please email your request to strejca@wfu.edu  by March 31, 2020. Be as specific as possible and include your tentative off-campus address. Approval to change to off-campus housing will be confirmed to you in writing by our office within 3 business days. As noted in previous communications, students who choose alternative housing off-campus do so at their own additional expense.
3. Changes after your arrival on March 15: Please email your request to eaneska@wfu.edu by April 5, 2020. Requests will be reviewed and followed up on based availability. Approved changes will be confirmed to you in writing by our office within 3 business days. Out of respect for the academic semester and the need for all of our residents to focus on concluding the semester well, any and all room changes must be completed by Sunday, April 12, 2020.

Please plan to check-in and receive keys to your new room at the Office of Residence Life and Housing in Angelou Hall between noon and 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 15 or between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday, March 16. If you need to arrive on campus outside of these hours, please contact us at housing@wfu.edu or 336-758-5185 to discuss alternate arrangements.

COVID-19 Update

The following information is shared on behalf of Dr. Cecil Price, Director of Student Health Service:

• Students returning from Venice should not return to campus until March 15.
• You should be aware of the symptoms and signs of COVID-19.  These include:
  1. Fever (100.4F/38C or higher)
  2. Cough
  3. Difficulty breathing
  4. Achiness and fatigue
• If you develop any of these symptoms after returning from Venice, you should call the Student Health Service 24/7 at 336.758.5218, your primary care physician (if at home), or your local health department to discuss how to be evaluated.  Be sure to report your symptoms and that you were in Venice when you call.
• The incubation period (the time from exposure to the onset of symptoms) is 14 days or less.  Symptoms with onset after this time are unlikely to be related to this virus.
• As of March 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not recommending “self-isolation” (that is, staying in your home and limiting contact with other people) for individuals returning to the United States from Italy.  However, if you develop any of the symptoms listed above before March 15, you should stay at home except to be evaluated by a medical professional. Remember to call the medical provider before traveling for the evaluation.

While Venice is technically in the Italian region affected by a COVID-19 outbreak (Veneto), there have only been a handful of imported cases and no community transmission in Venice according to our infectious diseases consultants at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the Medical Director of the Forsyth County Health Department Communicable Diseases Division.  The involved communities in that region are well outside of Venice and on lock-down. There is no evidence that you have been exposed to COVID-19 while in Italy and your risk of having contracted the virus remains low.

Since you left Italy by March 1 and the time from exposure to symptoms is fourteen days or less, this two-week period before you return to campus will exceed this incubation period, and the risk to others on campus at that point (March 15) related to your travel from Italy is exceedingly low.

For more information concerning travel to and from Italy, please see the information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

One of the challenges associated with the coronavirus situation is that things are changing very rapidly; the recommendations in place currently might change if the virus spreads and as new information is gained.  Wake Forest has a coronavirus website with links to international health organizations, and the site will be updated as new details emerge. We encourage any student, faculty, or staff who have traveled to stay alert to State Department travel advisories or restrictions, airline cancellations, and recommendations from the CDC.

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If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at housing@wfu.edu or 336-758-5185 or the Student Health Service at 336-758-5218 or shs@wfu.edu.