POSTED MARCH 24, 2020 - INFORMATION MAY HAVE CHANGED.

From  Director of Residence Life Marty Sabolo:

I hope this email finds you all well and taking the necessary precautions to remain healthy as we work our way through these trying times.

With the decision from the Board of Regents for all instruction to be online for the remainder of the semester, I am sure you all have questions about what that means for your housing and meal plans.

First of all, for those of you currently on campus and who cannot return to your primary place of residence quickly or easily, we will work to accommodate your continued use of residence hall and dining facilities on an individual, case-by-case basis.  In order to meet the needs of our students we will need you to complete a Request for Extended Accommodation form so that we can consider your request.  This form must be completed no later than noon on April 3, 2020.   While we may have to make some changes to your current situation, we will do our best to consider your situation and to accommodate you over the next few days.

For those of you who have not yet returned to campus, we are sure that you are anxious to gather your belongings and check out of the halls for the semester. While our staff wants to assist in making that occur as quickly as possible, we must also take into consideration the health of the entire community and respect the guidelines laid out by the CDC to help avoid community spread of the virus.

Therefore, we are asking that all students make a reservation to return to campus and complete their check-out from the halls. This should be done via phone by calling 605-626-3007 or 605-626-3008 starting tomorrow, March 25 at noon. While I know that requiring reservations might mean that some students will not be able to return at the time most convenient to them, it is important that we maintain social distancing and safe precautions for everyone’s health and well-being.

For specifics on how our express check-out procedures will work, please go to the following link.

Please be aware that you will not be permitted to just show up and have access to your residence hall or room. You MUST schedule a time in advance to do so.     

I also know that many of you have questions regarding refunds for your room and board for the semester.  I assure you that the university is working on the specifics of that process currently. The updated information will be available on Northern’s COVID-19 website shortly.

Finally, please know that all of us here at Northern are not only working on safety and health issues for the current semester, but we are also working toward the fall 2020 semester, and we look forward to your return to campus in August.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office.