UNITY — The following letter was shared by Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, announcing the institution will be shifting to remote instruction. 

Dear Unity College Flagship Students and Employees,

I am writing to share the latest information about Unity College’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Guided by recommendations from federal, state, and professional organizations, we have been working hard to address this evolving situation by instituting changes to campus practices and communicating them with you. Currently there are no suspected cases on our campus, but we recognize that conditions are changing rapidly, and we are not immune to the spread of this virus.

In the interest of the health and safety of our students and employees, we are instituting a transition to remote instruction for our Residential Flagship Campus, beginning Monday, March 30th. As of this date, all Flagship classes will be taught remotely using our Canvas LMS and other technological tools. Faculty will be in touch with their students via Canvas by March 25th. Updates regarding teaching and learning remotely will be available via our COVID-19 webpage. These measures are in place until further notice. If and when a change is warranted, we will provide as much notice as possible.

Every current student will also be assigned a staff liaison to assist with logistical considerations such as computer access, wi-fi availability, and other concerns until we resume normal operations. Staff liaisons will be in touch with students via the campus email system by Friday, March 20th.

All students still on campus should make arrangements to leave campus by Wednesday, March 18th. Any student with extenuating circumstances should contact Dean Ray Phinney (rphinney@unity.edu) as soon as possible prior to that date.

For those students still on-campus, I along with Dean Phinney, VPF Falcon, and CLO Latty will be hosting an information session tomorrow, March 15, at 11:00 am in Wyman Commons.

As explained on our COVID-19 webpage below, college-sponsored travel bans are in effect. We have also prohibited any gathering of 100 or more people. At this time, our athletics facilities and library are closed to all but UC employees. You will be notified via our RAVE alert system as new information is available.

We are committed to ensuring that our students earn the academic credits they are pursuing and can graduate without delay. At this time, it is too early to know how the May commencement ceremony will be affected. This event may need to be modified dependent upon how the situation evolves over the coming weeks. We will communicate additional information as soon as we can.

Please understand that we are disappointed to have to share these latest developments with you. In particular, we are thinking of our graduating seniors as you conclude your time at Unity College! The timing of this pandemic, while inopportune, does not diminish your time, accomplishments, and lifelong relationships you have fostered at Unity College. We will be communicating directly with you as we learn more about our options for commencement as you transition into the next chapter of your lives.

These decisions were not arrived at lightly and we understand the disruptions they will cause to all of our lives. However, they were made with all of our safety in mind as we continue to provide meaningful academic experiences. We make these changes in order to contribute to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 with the belief that these temporary alterations will best serve the greater good.

In Unity,

MPK
Dr. Melik Peter Khoury
President
Unity College