The independent news organization of Duke University
First-year Aden Clemente has a dilemma: too many food points. Clemente is one of many first-years living on West Campus this fall who received atypical food plans—with no Marketplace swipes or Trinity Café equivalency—and were awash with food points.
Here’s a roundup of what we know so far about the spring 2021 semester.
There were 24 new positive coronavirus tests reported at Duke between Nov. 14 and Nov. 20, out of 15,532 total tests, according to data released Monday on the University’s COVID-19 testing tracker.
In a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, Duke researchers found that the University’s COVID-19 pool testing system successfully slowed the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Duke has four possible plans for the start of the spring semester, including the current plan and three contingency options if COVID-19 rates are higher than expected, Executive Vice Provost Jennifer Francis told the Academic Council at its Thursday meeting.
The number of positive faculty tests is an increase of five from last week, and is the highest total since Duke began regularly releasing testing data. The number of student positives is a decrease of one from last week.
Two prominent groups that worked with Duke’s senior administration to plan the semester were DSG and the 2021 Student Advisory Board. The board was founded over the summer to get student input for COVID-19 planning.
The Arts and Sciences Council, Trinity’s faculty governance body, approved on Thursday a proposal to expand voluntary S/U grading for the spring 2021 semester.
Vincent Price took office in 2017 as Duke’s 10th president. Less than three years into his tenure, it fell to him to lead the University through a global pandemic. In The Chronicle’s most extensive interview with Price since the pandemic began, Editor-in-Chief Matthew Griffin asked the University’s president about leading Duke in a crisis, Duke’s anti-racist mission, community concerns, the upcoming spring semester and more.
As students returned to campus this semester, many were dismayed to discover their favorite spots to eat on campus had been temporarily closed. In addition to regulation of seating areas and other dining changes, The Devil’s Krafthouse and the cafes in the Divinity School and the School of Law have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were 22 new positive coronavirus tests reported at Duke between Oct. 31 and Nov. 6, out of 15,858 total tests, according to data released Monday on the University’s COVID-19 testing tracker.
A strange semester is almost over, and students learned more on Friday about the transition to the next one.
As the home stretch of the fall semester begins, Duke is making plans for spring housing assignments.
There were 17 new positive coronavirus tests reported at Duke between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30, out of 15,578 total tests, according to data released Monday on the University’s COVID-19 testing tracker.
Since Duke’s last conduct update Oct. 2, the University has suspended one additional campus organization, and 75 more students have faced sanctions that will be included on their conduct records.
Dining tables in the Brodhead Center, Marketplace and the Bryan Center have been roped off in response to a growing number of COVID-19 cases locally and nationwide, according to Robert Coffey, executive director of dining services.
The upcoming semester may not feature strolling past the Eiffel Tower, exploring the Australian Outback or practicing new languages on new streets, but students still have ways to craft an unconventional and memorable educational journey.
In a July 7 email to DKU undergraduates, DKU Dean of Students Raphael Moffett and DKU Dean of Undergraduate Studies Marica France announced that Kunshan students “who are both able to get to Duke’s campus by the start of the fall semester” and “whose visa status will allow them to take credit-bearing courses in the US” could study at Duke this fall.
In order to make indoor dining safer, Duke Dining has installed plexiglass dividers between seating places.
In a typical year, the beginning of fall semester is characterized by a mad rush to join various selective clubs and organizations on campus. This year, however, is hardly typical.
