Minutes after Emily Halpin, a professor in the UNC School of Education, and her class received the all-clear Alert Carolina message after the lockdown on Sept. 13, school leadership came to her classroom and suggested the option of switching rooms.
Halpin agreed, and within a day, she had an alternative classroom option. She said she wanted to explore the option of other rooms within Peabody Hall to make the learning environment of her classroom feel normal once again.
“A lot of students the second time were really, really upset, I think even more so honestly than the first time because they felt triggered being in that exact same place,” Halpin said.
According to an email statement from the Office of the University Registrar, very few classroom change requests have referenced events relating to the lockdowns.
“Sometimes it is difficult to make changes as the semester is underway, but with this particular situation, people were very amenable to it and very OK with, ‘Let’s make that happen if that is what students want,’” Halpin said.
The registrar’s office also said professors who wish to change classrooms must have Student Services staff in their department submit a request.
“The Scheduling team carefully reviews each request and checks for availability of the desired new location for the class section,” the office said.
However, with a class of about 45 students, a large lecture hall on the first floor was the only other classroom in Peabody Hall that could accommodate Halpin's class.
Halpin said she sent out an anonymous poll to her class asking whether they would prefer to remain in the same room — a smaller room tucked behind a corner on the second floor — or switch to one on the first floor.
