August 24, 2020 Update: COVID-19
Update on Fall 2020 Housing and Meal Plan Policy
Dear Students,
I am writing with an update on Champlain’s housing and meal plan refund policy for the Fall 2020 semester. This message provides additional context and revised guidance regarding refunds for housing and meal plan fees in the event of a complete closure of campus.
In order to open for in-person instruction for the Fall 2020 semester with the health and safety of our community in mind, Champlain College made a number of changes to how we approach life on campus. These changes include the decision to lower the overall occupancy of our residence halls—including a shift to primarily single occupancy rooms—without changes to the published rates, weekly testing for all students through the Broad Institute, increased staffing in the Student Health Center, and dedicated quarantine and isolation space on campus.
These changes represent significant up-front investments of more than $1.5 million on behalf of the College to position Champlain to reopen and remain open through the Thanksgiving break. The College also recognizes that if we need to shift our current plan as a result of changing conditions on our campus or as mandated by the State of Vermont, we may need to transition to fully virtual instruction as part of our Flex-Hybrid model. In this case, there are a number of scenarios in which students would remain in campus housing. If residence halls and dining services remain open, Champlain will not provide refunds for room and board. While we do not anticipate a full campus closure, if Champlain’s residence halls and dining services are closed by the College or at the direction of the State of Vermont, we will provide a partial refund for housing and meal plans.
We do wish to make clear that any student who is removed from campus housing due to a violation of the Health Pledge, or other disciplinary action, will receive no refund or credit of their housing and meal plan costs.
Our campus community looks forward to coming together for the start of the new academic year.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Ola. Akande, Ph.D.
President
