Beloit was the first school in the country to announce a distinctive change to the curriculum that would make it possible to deliver its academic mission even as the environment reacts dynamically to the virus. The Mods, which divide the fall semester into two units and enable flexibility in scheduling and course delivery, have become the template that many other schools are now using.

The Task Force meets multiple times each week and continually evaluates our plans with respect to the virus situation. We expect to continue doing that throughout the fall term. A decision to make a significant change in the plan will be based on these criteria.

All students, faculty, staff, and visitors will be required to wear face-coverings on campus. This includes inside buildings in public spaces, in classrooms and learning spaces, when other people are present, and when physical distancing is not possible. Face-coverings will also be required outside if physical distancing cannot be maintained and in a vehicle if it is shared with another person. You are required to put on a face-covering if you are asked to do so.

At this time, work-study jobs will be available on campus. If students are taking classes remotely and not returning to campus, only students living in Wisconsin or Illinois will be able to work remotely. A job fair will be held immediately prior to the beginning of Mod 1.

Students who have worked on campus previously may find changed working conditions due to the need for physical distancing. Your supervisor will explain any modifications or schedule changes.

Pre-arrival testing In order to return to campus, students must provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test administered within seven to 10 days of your planned arrival date.

If for some reason you do not have results by the time you are scheduled to be on campus, you may choose to remain at home and quarantine until you receive your results or come to campus and quarantine until your test result is received. If you need to quarantine at home or on campus, you will still be able to do your academic coursework.

If you are delayed in returning to campus or attending an in-person class, please reach out to your academic advisor and course instructors immediately. Please read the Testing policy for students for more information.

Testing will be available on campus throughout the fall term for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or who have come into contact with a confirmed case.

If you do not have a negative test result by the time you are scheduled to be on campus, you may choose to remain at home and quarantine until you receive your results OR come to campus and quarantine until your test result is received. If you need to quarantine at home or on campus, you will still be able to do your academic coursework.

Additionally, we expect that all students, faculty, and staff who are returning to campus from any location and by any form of transportation should begin following all of the protective practices that are expected as part of daily life on campus for 14 days before arriving.

Further, students will also be required to record a daily health self-assessment for the first 14 days that they are back on campus. We will be monitoring these reports and contacting those who record symptoms or don’t submit the assessment.

The Task Force has announced a new Protective Practices policy that applies to all students and employees. The college holds students, faculty, and staff who are participating in any work or activity in-person and on-campus accountable for adherence to protective practices.

Additionally, the Beloit Student Government presidents have been working with a group of students over the last 2 months to create a new statement of student culture along with behavioral expectations for the upcoming academic year. 

 

The College has a longstanding partnership with Beloit Health System. Nurse practitioners from BHS provide services to students on campus through the Health and Wellness Center. Students who would need treatment beyond what can be provided on campus would go urgent care or the emergency room, both part of Beloit Health Systems. 

The Health and Wellness Center has a protocol already in place to handle students who might become ill with the virus. Two floors in the residence halls have been designated as isolation floors. Each student would have a private bathroom and all means would be delivered. They would be visited on a daily basis by a nurse practitioner.

Students will have access to tele-counseling services. If both the student and the counselor agree, they may meet in-person.

Courses for Mod 1 and Mod 2 will be in-person, online, or a hybrid that you can take either in-person or online. Take a look at the Fall 2020 Course Guide to explore what classes are in what formats.

Beginning on July 27 and through August 7, there will be a new advising period for continuing students. During this time you can talk with your advisor about the courses you registered for and whether or not you want to make changes. From August 10-14 continuing students will have an Add-Drop period if you want to make changes. First-year students will have an Add-Drop period as part of New Student Days.

 

Missing classes in the shorter Mod schedule could create more difficulties for students than missing the same number of classes in the longer semester time frame.

The Curriculum Oversight and Administration committee has been meeting to develop new policies about attendance, credit/no-credit options, and other aspects of student learning for the fall term. More information on those policies should be available soon. Faculty are also designing their courses with a focus on supporting students to do their work and continue to make progress toward their degree. Each faculty member will most likely approach this in a way that fits with the learning outcomes for the course. 

The majority of peer tutoring will happen online as it did during the latter part of the spring semester. In-person tutoring may be available in certain circumstances. Contact the LEADS office for more information.

If your course is normally graded with a letter grade (A-F), you can opt to change your grading method to or from “CR/NC” at any point until two days after grades are due at the end of the semester. This policy applies to Mod 1, Mod 2, and full-semester courses. Similarly to last semester, there will be a form you can fill out in your Portal to make this change, but be aware that your change request will be processed by the Registrar’s Office and appear in Portal after the deadline for making changes.

 

You should email your professors as soon as you know that you will not be attending class physically, and let them know that you are interested in participating remotely and feel well enough to do so. Depending on the length of your absence and how soon your professor is aware that you will be participating remotely, your professor will let you know some options for how you can continue to engage in class.

While these may include “Zooming in” or otherwise observing class sessions, they may also involve doing complementary research, writing or presenting a report for the class, generating discussion questions, coaching a peer through an in-class exercise, or leading a remote study session.

The most important thing is that you do not physically attend a face-to-face class if you feel ill or have been instructed to quarantine, and until you have been cleared by the Health & Wellness Center to attend class in person, you should continue to participate only remotely.

You should visit the Health & Wellness page now for specific guidelines so you are familiar with them when you arrive on campus. If you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, if you yourself have tested positive, or if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, you should begin by contacting the Health & Wellness Center (Tara Girard at girardtm@beloit.edu or healthcenter@beloit.edu). The Health & Wellness staff will protect your privacy in discussing your situation with others as much as possible.

The Dean of Students Office will then be notified and work with you to advise your instructors and advisors about your expected attendance, including projected time away from in-class participation, remote participation, and/or specific assignments, if possible. In order to protect your privacy, messages from the Dean of Students Office will not specify the nature of the illness or injury or exposure to COVID-19. The COVID-19 Task Force will also be notified if anyone who has been on campus becomes ill.

If you are experiencing a personal or family crisis, or if you are ill and do not feel well enough to participate in class remotely, you should begin by contacting the Health & Wellness Center (Tara Girard at girardtm@beloit.edu or healthcenter@beloit.edu) to let them know your situation. The Health & Wellness staff will protect your privacy in discussing your situation with others as much as possible.

The Dean of Students Office will then be notified and work with you to develop a course of action that will respect your need to be away from class and minimize the potential impact of a prolonged absence on your academic progress. The Dean of Students’ Office will send an email to your professors and advisors about expected attendance, including projected time away from in-class participation, remote participation, and/or specific assignments, if possible.

You should email your professor(s), and they will collaborate with you to find a satisfactory way of finishing out the course. For some situations, pursuing a late withdrawal from courses will be the wisest choice, but finishing out a course may include: picking up where you left off in the course when you feel well enough to return; adopting a modified schedule of work and deadlines that will be manageable for you during your illness; completing only high-priority assignments and assessments in order to qualify for a grade of “CR.” In extreme circumstances, you may utilize the college’s process for receiving a grade of “Incomplete” for one or more courses.

The plan is for kitchens to be open when the fall term begins.  They will remain open as long as students keep them clean, practice physical distancing in that space, and wear face-coverings. If those things do not happen, the kitchens will be closed. 

Students will have multiple options to get food. The Commons and Hamiltons will be open and available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Commons will not have buffet lines, but you will be able to ask for items to be prepared for you in person or with an app.

The tables in Commons have been removed and traffic patterns and places to stand are marked. All food must be taken elsewhere to eat. You could eat in a lounge or another location on campus while practicing physical distancing. Hamiltons will also have food that can be ordered and picked up and there will be physically distanced spaces to eat in the Powerhouse. DK’s will be open at lunch with items pre-packaged only. New picnic tables will also be available for eating outside.

The housekeepers will be cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms on a regular basis. Cleaning supplies will also be available for students to wipe down surfaces before and after they use them.

Absolutely! Things may be a bit different, but the Powerhouse staff has been working on ways to keep students safe and still offer a variety of options to stay active or relax, to have fun with friends or grab a bit of solitude. Stay tuned for more details.

Yes. All in-person activities will need to ensure that participants can follow protective practices - face-coverings and physical distancing. Some programming may happen in a virtual or online format.

All of the academic buildings, museums, library, the sports center, Pearsons, Middle College and the residence halls will be open. Access to the museums will be limited to students taking classes in those buildings and needing access to the collections. The library will be open but will have reduced seating to ensure that everyone can observe physical distancing. Some computers will be available for use in the library, but the 24-hour labs in Pearsons and Chapin will be closed.

Currently, there are no restrictions that would prevent students from going into town. The college will follow local, state, and federal mandates that could restrict visits off of the campus if they are issued. We encourage everyone in the Beloit College community to observe campus protective practices - wear face-covering, observe 6-feet of distance, and wash or sanitize your hands frequently in town as you would on the campus.

Presently the only visitors that should be coming to campus are those needed for essential academic or business continuity. The museums and the library are not open to the public.  There is no use of campus facilities by the public or groups that are not directly connected to the college.

For the fall term, some faculty and staff will return to in-person teaching and working on campus. Others may continue to teach and work remotely. Offices may use staggered scheduling to ensure distancing requirements. Information about whether a class or service is virtual and how offices are operating will be made available as those decisions are made.