After a trying semester, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore hopes all students will use the holiday break to relax. Photo by Cydney Scott

Student Life

Updated: Holiday Break Checklist — What to Know about Leaving, Returning

Reminder for those in Category 4: The last date for COVID-19 testing is January 10. Plus other tips to make your break easy, relaxing, and smooth and keep the campus safe and secure.

This semester began unlike any other, with new rules and protocols, and now it is ending as it began—with a few new rules and protocols. To make your upcoming departure and return in January a little smoother, we’ve put together a handy checklist to keep track of things you’ll need to do. And when in doubt, always check in with the Back2BU website for updates.

Special reminder for people who are in Category 4 and taking advantage of the University’s temporary offer to get COVID-19 tests on campus — remember that testing is only available until January 10. Details are here.

• While away, all students must keep their Learn from Anywhere (LfA) indicator on the Student Link up-to-date. If you are leaving campus, you should change your status to remote the day before you leave. If you leave over break and come back for the spring semester, update your indicator one day before you return to campus so that you are in a testing cadence by the time you return to campus. LfA indicator information takes 24 hours to process.

• Students in campus housing should:
  • Take all essential items with you (important papers, passport, identification, room key, medication, contact lenses, glasses, valuables, etc.).
  • Return all textbooks rented from Barnes & Noble to Barnes & Noble.
  • Return any borrowed library books to the BU Libraries.
  • Organize your room. Box up loose items and place the boxes on your bed. Packing boxes are available in the residences. You may also place personal items in your assigned closet, dresser, and desk.
  • Clean out your MicroFridge and dispose of any trash and perishable food.
    
    
• Campus Planning & Operations wants to to remind everyone how to conserve energy and keep your workplace safe over the intersession break (in other words, help avoid pipes freezing!). Tips include: Turning off all electrical devices, including computers, heaters, lights, coffee pots; empty any trash with food; close and lock windows and lock doors; and in an emergency, at night, or on weekends, call 617-353-2105 to reach the Operations Service Center if you are on the Charles River Campus or Fenway Campus, or 617-358-4144 to reach the Control Center if you are on the Medical Campus.

• If you are visiting with family or friends, it’s imperative to remain vigilant to avoid spreading the coronavirus. Public health officials say that means wearing a mask as much as possible, even indoors, if possible.
  
• Before coming back to BU, know your category status, minimize interactions with others for approximately one week prior to travel, take a COVID-19 test, and wait for the results before you leave to avoid spreading the virus to other households. If possible, also wait for others in your holiday circle to get test results back, in case you might be a close contact of someone who tests positive.

• Undergraduate students, including returning students from fall 2020, must schedule their return to campus housing in spring 2021. Students can select an appointment date and time for their move-in from January 14 to 24 in My Housing Portal, beginning on December 14 and continuing until January 8.
  
  
• Graduate students do not need to schedule their return to campus housing.
  
  
• For students staying in the area, at the Hotel Commonwealth, undergraduate apartment-style residences, and BU Real Estate properties, you will still need to get tested and maintain compliance. Test collection site hours are posted here.

Finally, a suggestion—take care of yourself. This semester was hard. For everyone. Kenneth Elmore (Wheelock’87), associate provost and dean of students, encourages students to use the holiday break to relax after a taxing three months. He even offers a suggested playlist of some of his favorite things to listen to: 617Sessions’ Sound of Our Town 2020 compilation; Kishi Bashi’s Omoiyari; Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975; the Thelonious Monk live album Palo Alto; and the super deluxe reissue of Prince’s Sign o’ the Times.