Stanford will “ideally” set up a time for students to return to campus to retrieve their belongings, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole wrote in an email to undergraduates on Tuesday.
“We aren’t sure if we can do this, but we’re going to try,” Brubaker-Cole wrote.
Santa Clara County’s shelter-in-place order is set to be lifted by May 3, at which point Stanford will provide an update, she added. The shelter-in-place has already been extended once, as it was originally set to end on April 7.
As all students vacated campus at the end of winter quarter, many left their belongings in their rooms as Stanford told them there was “no reason” to move out “if you plan to return for spring 2020,” according to a March 16 archive of the Health Alerts Frequently Asked Questions for Undergraduates page. One day after the deadline for students to leave campus, Provost Persis Drell announced that spring quarter would be entirely online.
The archived version of the FAQ states that students not planning to enroll can have their belongings shipped to them, but that “no other shipping [would] take place until it is determined whether or not students will be called back to campus for in-person instruction.” No mention of shipping students their belongings exists on the current version of the FAQ, aside from if they need a specific item, which they can coordinate with their housing front desk.
Some students’ belongings are already being packed up to make space for individuals awaiting COVID-19 test results as well as healthcare workers and first responders in need of a place to stay. These students will have the option to have their belongings shipped to them or stored on campus for pickup “once [they] are permitted to return,” according to an email sent to affected students from Dean of Students Mona Hicks.
When asked whether all students would have the option to have their belongings shipped or stored, or if financial aid would be offered to help students cover the cost of travel to retrieve their things, Student Affairs spokesperson Pat Harris said that “all available information on these topics was included in Susie’s message.”
Contact Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu.