Daily Update on Campus Safety and Covid-19

THIS POST IS A REPUBLISHED VERSION OF AN EMAIL COMMUNICATION SENT BY AUP PRESIDENT CELESTE M. SCHENCK ON MARCH 2, 2020, ABOUT COVID-19 AND AUP'S RESPONSE. IT IS PART OF OUR SAFETY & SECURITY BLOG THAT ROUNDS UP ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

Thank you once again for your comments, concerns and feedback over the last few days as the situation regarding Covid-19 has evolved. The preventive measures in place for today’s return to campus went smoothly, and the University is immensely grateful to the entire AUP community – including our parent community – for its ongoing cooperation and support.

Following confirmation that Covid-19 is spreading in France, the French government has changed its advice for individuals returning from at-risk areas. After initially advising that these individuals enact a 14-day self-quarantine as a preventive measure, the government now says such measures are no longer necessary and is instead moving toward a containment strategy, which includes limiting large-scale events and gatherings.

However, government advice to educational institutions is to take decisions about whether or not to continue requiring quarantines on a case-by-case basis. Given the international nature of our students, staff, and faculty, and the high number of students traveling abroad, the University will still require that any students and employees currently carrying out self-quarantine continue to do so as planned. Our priority is to ensure the health and safety of everybody on campus. We will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and will keep parents informed as the situation evolves.

All students who are currently undergoing self-quarantine have the full support of Guidance Counselors and the offices for Health, Residential Life and Academic Affairs. We are working with faculty across the University to make sure that these students are able to continue their studies without issue. Please note that students who have not been advised to self-quarantine are expected to attend classes as normal.

As previously mentioned, study trips to Italy have been canceled for the remainder of the semester. In addition, next week’s trips to Iceland and Egypt have also been canceled. Decisions about whether other study trips will go ahead will be taken on a day-by-day basis.

As an additional precautionary measure, AUP events will no longer be open to the public until further notice; only staff, faculty and students with AUP access cards will be able to attend on-campus events. We will be reaching out with more news about how these preventive measures affect upcoming AUP events in the coming days.

All those attending meetings on AUP’s campus, for example applicants and their families, are required to declare their travel destinations in the past two weeks and anyone who has recently traveled to at-risk areas will be refused access to university buildings.

If you have questions or concerns at any time, do not hesitate to reach out to Dana Callaghan, Parent Relations Manager, at parentsaup.edu. Thank you once again for your support and understanding.