One week later: UNC's road to remote since campus started reopening

Between students moving back to campus after their spring semester was cut short, to UNC's most recent decision to move classes completely online due to growing concerns over COVID-19 clusters — students, faculty and staff have experienced constant change and uncertainty over the past two weeks. 

The following is a timeline of the recent events regarding the University's operation decisions amidst a global pandemic.

Aug. 3 - Students began moving into on-campus housing. The N.C. Public Workers Union held a direct action protest to advocate for safer working conditions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, after UNC failed to respond to demands delivered to the University on July 22. 

Aug. 5 - Students, faculty and campus workers held a die-in protest at Polk Place. The demonstration consisted of a moment of silence for those who have died from COVID-19, followed by the participants laying in the quad for over 30 minutes in opposition to the University’s reopening on Aug. 3. 

A letter from the Orange County Health Director went public. The letter, written on July 29, recommended at a minimum five weeks of remote instruction and to restrict on-campus housing to those who need it. 

Aug. 7 - Carolina Housing extended the on-campus housing contract cancellation deadline. Students were given the option to cancel their housing contract before 5 p.m. on Aug. 7 without a penalty or cancellation costs.

Aug. 10 - The on-campus move-in period ended and fall semester classes began for students, conducted both online and in a hybrid format. 

University System faculty and staff filed a lawsuit in the Wake County Superior Court against Gov. Roy Cooper and the UNC System. The complaint was for the safety of UNC employees after reopening the University a week earlier.

Aug. 14 - At the end of the first week of fall classes, Alert Carolina notified students, faculty and staff of two COVID-19 clusters, one in Ehringhaus Residence Hall and the other in Granville Towers. A cluster is defined as “five or more cases that are deemed close proximity in location.”

Aug. 15 - Alert Carolina notified students, faculty and staff of another COVID-19 cluster, this time in Sigma Nu fraternity house. According to the president of the fraternity, there were at least six positive cases in the house by Aug. 14.

Aug. 16 - Alert Carolina notified students, faculty and staff of a COVID-19 cluster in another first-year residence hall Hinton James — bringing the number of clusters at UNC to four.

Over the weekend of Aug. 16, UNC community members sent letters to campus leadership and students about protection and accountability during COVID-19. The letters were sent by the Chairperson of the Faculty Mimi Chapman, the Chairperson of Commission for Campus Equality and Student Equity and student staff for Carolina Housing.

Aug. 17, 3 p.m. - The University updated its COVID-19 dashboard with data on the number of positive cases on cases. In the first week since the first day of class, there were 135 new positive COVID-19 cases. The campus quarantine dorm reached 5.5 percent capacity availability, with only four rooms free in the building.

Aug. 17, 3:45 p.m. -  The University announced that undergraduate classes would move to online instruction, starting Wednesday. In the email announcement, students were given the chance to again cancel their on-campus housing contracts without penalty. The email stated that students without reliable internet access, international students and athletes would have the option to stay in their on-campus housing.

Aug. 19 - All remote instruction for undergraduate courses begins.