UNC schedules five wellness days during spring semester

Updated 12:20 p.m.: The wellness days for the spring semester will be: 

• Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 15-16
• Thursday and Friday, March 11-12
• Monday, April 5

April 2 is also a University holiday. 

These five wellness days will take the place of a spring break during the condensed spring semester. 

University Registrar Lauren DiGrazia said in an email announcing the scheduled wellness days that these days are intended as breaks from the semester, not for studying. Faculty will be instructed to avoid scheduling major assignments on the days following the wellness days. 

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UNC's spring semester will have a delayed start on Jan. 19, a two-week delay from the academic calendar's initial start date of Jan. 6, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin said in a campus-wide email Thursday. 

Classes will end on May 5, with exams set to take place between May 7 and May 14. 

Registration for the spring semester will now open on Nov. 30, but the deadline to register for spring classes has not been determined, Guskiewicz and Blouin said. 

The Campus and Community Advisory Committee agreed to recommend to Guskiewicz and Blouin that the spring semester be delayed, with start dates of either Jan. 11 and Jan. 19, at its meeting on Tuesday 

The original spring calendar set the last of day of class for April 23, with exams between April 26 and May 4. Spring break was initially set for the week of March 8 through March 12, but the new calendar does not include a spring break to limit travel and the potential spread of COVID-19. 

Instead, the spring calendar will include five built-in "wellness days." These days will be incorporated into the spring calendar as either individual days off or in "combined clusters," Guskiewicz and Blouin said in the email.  The wellness days are intended as full breaks from the semester and not a time for studying. 

"The dates for the wellness days will be updated on the Registrar’s website soon," they said in the email. 

This decision comes after students have petitioned for various days off throughout the semester, and one was ultimately granted for Friday.

Spring commencement will be delayed one week to May 16. Winter commencement has been postponed. Guskiewicz and Blouin said they hope to hold a spring commencement that also honors spring 2020, winter 2020 and planned spring 2021 graduates. 

"We apologize for the disappointment and frustration that the postponement of our 2020 commencements have caused our graduates this year. We remain optimistic that a successful spring term can help open a safe path to a large, combined ceremony for all three graduating classes," they said in the email. 

While the spring calendar has now been established, "many critical decisions remain," Guskiewicz and Blouin said. 

Decisions that are not yet finalized include:

• COVID-19 testing protocols
• Modes of spring instruction
• Plans for on-campus housing
• Isolation and quarantine space
• And guidelines for on-campus and off-campus activities.

On Wednesday, Executive Director Allan Blattner provided an outline of Carolina Housing's plans for the spring semester at a live Zoom session. Housing will only offer singles in the spring semester and have enough room for about 3,900 students to return to campus, Blattner said. 

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