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Union Where You Are: Plans for 2020-21

Union Where You Are

Our fall term started on September 9. Whether you are on campus, near campus or anywhere else in the world, our plan is designed to meet the needs of our community and provide every student with an exceptional academic experience. On October 19, we announced our plans for the winter and spring terms including our revised academic calendar.

What's New?

We know you will continue to have questions about Union and our plans. We are updating this site regularly. To help you locate the newest information, here is a short list of the most recent additions.

Administrative Office Hours

ACADEMICS

Minervas Online (Winter 2021) - October 13
Experiential Education (Winter 2021) - October 13

Fall 2020 Study Spaces

Health and Safety Protocols

Travel to and from N,Y. - Arrival Quarantine Protocols - October 20
Guidance as we start to move indoors - October 6
Face Coverings - new CDC guidelines - September 10
Quarantine/Isolation Packing List - September 8
COVID-19 Dashboard - September 3

Community Updates

Union Where You Are: Winter and Spring Terms - October 19
Winter and Spring Key Dates - October 19

FAQ section

Daily Health Screening (emocha) - October 26
Testing - October 26

First-year students

First-year students will be on campus to create community and be introduced to our exciting approach to learning. Students will live in one of our residence halls and take courses taught both in person and online. First-year students will be assigned single occupancy rooms, but they will have the opportunity to opt into a double occupancy room if interested. For those incoming students who are not able to join us residentially this year, we want to hear from you to better understand your situation. Please reach out to Kate Schurick, dean of first-year students, to discuss how you can successfully launch your Union academic experience and join our community remotely.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors

In this unprecedented time, we know that your needs are unique. We have crafted options that let you choose the academic and residential experience that best suits your needs. Whether you will be with us in person, join us online or take advantage of one of our experiential education opportunities, we are looking forward to helping you thrive in your academic pursuits.

As in the fall, our winter term Union Where You Are plan includes three broad modes of course instruction: in-person, hybrid (available both in-person and remotely) and online. Our listing of courses denotes their modes of delivery (see the Location and Meeting Time column). As a reminder, the course petition process began Oct. 17 and runs through Oct. 20. Course registration begins the week of Nov. 2.

Traditional Union Courses

Courses will be offered in person or online. Some courses may be offered in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online students. Students living on campus, students released to live off-campus and commuter students will be able to select any of the traditional courses being offered. Students living away from campus will have online access to any of the traditional courses being offered in that mode. Our listing of courses denotes their modes of delivery (see the Location and Meeting Time column).

Minervas Online

Our world has become more complex, and the big questions we face are increasingly difficult to answer. Union's world-class faculty from a variety of disciplines have created Minervas Online, a suite of interdisciplinary courses designed to help students understand the complexity of and develop solutions to large-scale societal challenges.

Learn more about winter term Minervas Online

Experiential Education

Immerse yourself in a political campaign or work for social change. Students will have a selection of experiential opportunities from which to choose, or they can opt to create their own experience with a faculty sponsor and related course work.

Learn more about winter term Experiential Education

Winter and Spring Term: Key Dates

Below are key dates for the winter and spring terms. For additional dates, please visit the academic calendar.

  • Oct. 26: Students elect mode of engagement for winter term

  • Oct. 26: Last day for students to sign the revised COVID-19 Policy Agreement

  • Nov. 2: Email sent to students regarding selecting initial COVID testing day

  • Nov. 6: Last day for students to make a change in mode of engagement (on-campus or remote) for winter term

  • Jan. 2: Move-in date for students returning from international travel and students required to quarantine per the New York state travel guidelines and using college quarantine hotel

  • Jan. 7-9: Student testing and move in begins. Employee testing begins. (See testing section below for information about pre-arrival testing and on-campus testing.)

  • Jan. 11: First day of classes

  • March 25-28: Modified spring break

  • March 29: First day of spring term

  • June 13: In-person Commencement for the Class of 2021, conditions permitting