New Mexico State University extended its spring break by one week and announced a move to online classes on Monday, March 30. Now, NMSU has told students not to return to campus after spring break. Here is a statement from NMSU President Dr. John Floros:
Because of the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are updating our guidance to the campus community regarding students returning to campus after spring break.
- If you live in a residence hall and you left for spring break, do not return to campus this semester. Because the university will have only online courses after our extended spring break, there is no reason to return to campus this semester.
- Exceptions to this guidance will be made through Housing and Residential Life only for campus residents who may not have other options.
- Students living in our Family Housing units are not affected by this guidance.
- Other guidance that was distributed this week includes the following:
- All employees are now working from home. The only exceptions are for positions that require a physical presence on campus, and even our police force and fire department have reduced staffing.
- NMSU is restricting access to buildings and facilities to anyone who is not a student or employee. Corbett Center Student Union will remain open to allow students access to the Dining Hall, but the hours will be reduced. The U.S. Post Office in Corbett Center will remain open with access from the west entrance to Corbett Center.
Facilities and Services has begun sanitizing buildings, in coordination with the VPR, deans, department heads, researchers and staff in those buildings. When a crew arrives at a building, please work with them and follow directions for leaving the space, while sanitizing takes place.
Residents who did not leave their campus housing assignment for spring break are welcome to continue to stay. Guests and visitors are not allowed in on-campus residence halls and apartments until further notice.
Residents who left campus housing for the break and are interested in returning for their personal belongings must follow this protocol:
- If you left the State of New Mexico or the El Paso area do not return to campus. Your belongings will remain in place until it is safe for you to return.
- If you did not leave the State of New Mexico or the El Paso area you may sign up for a time to return your room or apartment and collect your belongings. Following the scheduled time for your entry to campus housing is critical and will strictly limit the number of people in any area at one time. Direction on that will be communicated to you in an email from your Resident Director today. For example, Nicki Halopka, the Resident Director for Chamisa Village will send an email to those residents and Autumn Combs, Resident Director for Piñon Hall will send an email to those residents, etc. That will occur today by 5:00 pm it is critical that you follow instructions closely including using the express checkout process and not bringing guests or helpers into campus housing areas for moving.
Residents who did not leave campus housing and wish to leave now should use the express checkout process. Envelopes for this process are available at the Chamisa and Garcia desks and at the bulletin boards in the Aggie Express building on south campus. If you are not able to access the envelopes, please leave your keys on your desk and send an email to housing@nmsu.edu letting us know that you’ve left. Guests and visitors are not allowed in on-campus residence halls and apartments even to provide moving assistance.
Residents who do not have another option for living arrangements should submit THIS FORM. Once that is done a housing staff member will contact you within 24 hours. We will work through each situation on a case by case basis to ensure our residents who need to live on campus have that option.
These are unprecedented times. Your cooperation and patience is appreciated as we endeavor to serve you with a focus on the health and safety of residents and staff. Please understand you are our priority and we are doing everything we can to keep you safe.
If the form link above does not work for you, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id= qIfso7ifWEG6j_ EbrOHrqpJG9VJ1cJZEnuzHA8NMiDhU MlJQUjdUR0xESk01V0hVSFA3VklCOE k1TC4u