Dear Parents of Notre Dame Students Abroad,
A few minutes ago, you should have received a message from Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., explaining the steps being taken to address the potential spread of the coronavirus on our campus. While there are no known cases of COVID-19 among our students, faculty, or staff, the University has made the decision to suspend in-person classes after spring break until April 13, 2020.
This has prompted the University to make the difficult but necessary decision to end all study abroad programming for the remainder of the semester, effective immediately.
Students studying abroad were informed of this decision a few minutes ago and the University is working with Anthony Travel to make flight arrangements for their return flights at no cost to you or the students. They will travel at some point between Friday, March 13 and Monday, March 16 to the nearest airport to the home address we have on record. If your student is an F-1 visa holder and cannot return home, we have given the student instructions for next steps.
If students have traveled to Italy or any other Level 3 country in the past two weeks, upon returning home we ask them to follow CDC recommendations to self-quarantine for 14 days.
If your student has not traveled to Italy or any other Level 3 country in the past two weeks, they are not required to self-quarantine.
The University is committed to our students’ academic success and continuity and we have plans in place to enable them to complete this semester through online learning or by other means. We will communicate the details to your student in the coming days.
Your student’s safety is the University’s top priority and our colleagues on campus and abroad are continuing to work directly with your students to ensure a seamless transition to returning home and resuming their studies. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to studyabroad@nd.edu or call +1 574-631-1138.
Sincerely,
Michael E. Pippenger, Ph.D.
Vice President and Associate Provost of Internationalization
Originally published by at coronavirus.nd.edu on March 11, 2020.