The 2020 Fall Semester

Dear Notre Dame Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional Students:

We welcome you to start the fall semester and to provide you information about expectations and your classroom experience for this coming semester.

Entering and Exiting Classrooms

We have added 5 minutes between class periods to allow you extra time to enter and exit classrooms and laboratories without crowding near doorways. The general guidance is to avoid crowding within and outside of instructional spaces and maintain safe (6-feet) physical distance between yourself and others at all times. Instructors may also have additional specific instructions about classroom procedures. Due to adjustments made in both class sizes and locations, you should find it is easier to get around within and between classroom buildings this semester. 

Wearing Masks

Students and instructors are required to wear masks inside all buildings on campus. This requirement includes large classrooms and auditoriums. Masks should be worn before entering buildings and should not be removed until you are away from a building and in an area that allows safe physical distancing. Masks will be available and provided by HERE ambassadors should you forget yours. Neither instructors nor students should remove their masks during class periods.

Seating Assignments

We have numbered usable seats in each assigned classroom to comply with safe physical distancing requirements. Please do not sit in unnumbered seats. Once you select a seat, you should enter your seat number at here.nd.edu/seat, using either a mobile device or a computer. Your instructor will remind you to report your seat location. It is up to the instructor whether to allow you to change your seat locations until the conclusion of the add/drop period (on August 17th). At that point, all seat assignments become final, and you will no longer need to report your seat number. We will use numbered seat assignments, if needed, for contact tracing.

Online Courses

If you have an online course on your schedule, please plan to attend via Zoom using the meeting link provided by your instructor. We encourage you to use headphones or a headset to ensure privacy and to minimize disruption to others. If you have an "alternating attendance" course on your schedule, you will join the class remotely via Zoom every other class meeting. Please dress appropriately and follow your instructor's specific guidance for each online course. Please recall privacy considerations, including the University's prohibition on sharing materials or images from online courses with others. For any online course, you should find a quiet space with a strong wifi connection; for many students this will be your dorm room. For others, the University has prepared a wide range of informal quiet study spaces for this purpose.

Class Attendance

Students who receive a red pass on their Daily Health Check, as well as those who may be in quarantine or isolation, should continue to participate remotely in their classes consistent with advice provided by University Health Services or other medical professionals. Faculty members will monitor excused absences through daily reports, and may provide additional guidance regarding their attendance expectations. 

Study and Online Learning Spaces

Given the need to spread out on campus this semester, the University has made space available at various locations. The following venues have quiet space for studying and online course engagement. They can also accommodate informal gatherings. All have strong wifi connectivity. Restrooms are also available. This list is also available on here.nd.edu for easy access.

Hesburgh Library

As always, the Hesburgh Libraries will serve as places to study and collaborate in small groups. They will soon launch an app that will allow you to see what spaces are available before you make the trek to your nearest library. 

South Dining Hall

  • West Wing
    • Quiet study/class:  Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
    • Informal gathering:  Monday – Friday 2 p.m. to midnight; all hours Saturday and Sunday
  • East Wing
    • Informal gathering:  9:00 p.m. – midnight 7 days per week

North Dining Hall

  • South side building by the C-Store
    • Quiet study/class:  Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
    • Informal gathering:  Monday – Friday 2:00 p.m. - 7:59 a.m., all hours Saturday and Sunday
  • North side of the building
    • Quiet study/class:  Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
    • Informal gathering:  Monday – Friday 2:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., all hours Saturday and Sunday

Stadium Concourse – Gate E

  • Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
  • Sections available for both quiet study/class time and informal gathering

Students may also use the following outdoor spaces for informal gatherings, study or online learning. However, wifi strength in these locations may not be optimal.

  • Large tents in the North and South Quads
  • Medium tents near Bond Hall Quad, DeBartolo Quad, East Quad

Other campus locations: Eck Visitors Center Geddes Terrace, Duncan Student Center patio, Pizza Pi, Library patio,  Decio patio, Hesburgh Library north entrance plaza, Bookstore patio, Coleman Morse patio, Fieldhouse Mall Half Moon, Stayer Center patios (north and south), Nanovic Hall entrance plaza, Hesburgh International Center, Library Quad south of the reflecting pool, Mendoza College of Business courtyard, and the Bond Hall hemicycle

The following venues can be reserved for special programming by contacting University Events (venueND@nd.edu • 574.631-1400): Wind Family Fireside Terrace at the Morris Inn, Notre Dame Stadium bowl seating and field, Purcell Pavilion, Irish Green, and Legends of Notre Dame club and patio

Things to Remember

We have worked very hard to prepare for your return to campus this fall. As the semester begins, please keep in mind the responsibility we have to watch out for one another’s safety, to foster integrity in learning, and to create a community in which compassion, respect, and love are the true measure of success for all endeavors.

Moreover, the pathway to realizing these loftier aspirations begins with attentiveness to our daily protocols:

  • Wear a mask.
  • Practice physical distancing.
  • Wash your hands often.
  • Complete your daily health check.

Please let us know if we can help in any way.

In Notre Dame,


(The Rev. Canon) Hugh R. Page, Jr., PhD
Vice President and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs

Laura A. Carlson, PhD
Vice President and Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School