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App State’s Information About Paid Administrative Leave, On-Campus Housing, Hours of Operation Guidance and Commencement

Posted March 17, 2020 at 4:40 p.m.

Beginning March 23, App State will transition from in-person instruction to a system of alternative course delivery, where possible and practical, and we will return to in-person instruction as soon as reasonably possible.

While residence halls and dining halls remain open, we are actively promoting social distancing, and have encouraged students to study and take classes from home. 

Please see important updates below about paid administrative leave, hours of operation, on-campus housing, refunds, commencement and other mass gatherings:

Employee teleworking guidance, including student employees, and new paid administrative leave provisions:

On March 13, Human Resources communicated with campus to ensure telework arrangements are in place no later than March 23 for all employees whose physical presence on campus is not required to perform the essential functions of their jobs. This includes student employees.

Additional guidance from the UNC System office was distributed today, sharing that UNC System Interim President Roper has authorized paid administrative leave for employees, including temporary and student employees, for certain COVID-19-related absences, through March 31, 2020.  Specifically, paid administrative leave may apply to employees who:

  • Cannot work because they have childcare or eldercare needs related to COVID-19-related facility closings;
  • Are not required to work on campus to maintain a campus operation but cannot telework; or
  • Are unable to work due to cold, flu, or COVID-19 symptoms, or are caring for someone with symptoms from these illnesses.

The Office of Human Resources is working on guidelines for implementing these new paid leave provisions and will communicate in greater detail.

Hours of Operation:

Beginning Monday, March 23, academic buildings will be open from 8am-6pm. Departments on campus will remain open for business, and may adjust business hours and processes to encourage social distancing. To adjust these individual processes, supervisors should work through their reporting lines, and permission may be granted by their Vice Chancellors upon Chancellor approval. Once approved, these areas must work with their Communication Liaisons to post adjusted schedules and processes on their individual websites. Find your Communication Liaison here.

Housing guidance:

Residence Halls remain open. We continue, however, to encourage students to study and take classes from home. On March 13, we communicated to on-campus students the exceptions process that allows students to remain in university housing if they establish legitimate and significant need. This process is consistent with UNC System guidance to substantially reduce the number of students on campus and in university housing. It is also consistent with our extended break protocols when the university and residence halls remain open, under reduced operations. Read the guidance to on-campus students about residence halls here.

Commencement:

We recognize the significance of celebrating the accomplishments of our students. Commencement ceremonies are the pinnacle of our students’ academic achievements. We are hopeful we can continue commencement ceremonies as planned, but in the event we must adjust these plans we will communicate any changes as soon as possible.

Other events and mass gatherings:

CDC guidance on events continues to evolve. The university will follow UNC System and CDC guidelines about large events and mass gatherings. For questions and information about specific events, please check the individual websites of the areas responsible for presenting the events in question.

Refunds:

Any discussion of refunds for housing and dining will take place once we are beyond the immediate issues we face now with mitigating spread of the coronavirus.