Letter To Students From The President: Limestone's Coronavirus Response

March 19, 2020:

Dear Limestone Students:

As your President, I want to tell you how much we appreciate your understanding through this unprecedented experience. Our leadership team here at Limestone continues to closely monitor the growing impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak both internationally and locally.

Our top priority is to ensure the health and well-being of our campus community, while also making sure that our students can complete their courses and advance their progress toward graduation. To that end, please reach out to Limestone’s Student Success Office and others here if you need assistance as you focus on your degree completion. Our staff and our faculty members are here to help, so please communicate with the campus when you need support of any kind. We will continue to offer a number of services to enhance your overall success and to support your goal of graduating.

As you may have learned by now, through our various communications channels, Limestone announced yesterday (Wednesday, March 18, 2020) that we will extend our Day Campus virtual student instruction for the remainder of the current semester. Originally, we had decided to transition to online learning for at least three weeks. That time period has now been expanded through the spring semester.

While we have no cases of COVID-19 on our campus, our overarching focus is on our community’s health and safety – especially for those in high-risk categories. Taking these actions reduces the exposure of Limestone community members to the virus.

The residential experience at Limestone provides meaningful student connections to last a lifetime. But for those of you who cannot be here with us in person for the rest of this semester, this temporary separation from one another will certainly not diminish those bonds. We look forward to having our entire Saints family back on campus with us as soon as possible to renew those relationships and to build new ones.

Those of you who might have questions about your remote courses or academic accommodations should contact your professors directly through Blackboard.

Our faculty members have developed online lessons for every class to get you successfully through the semester. We ask that you log-in to Blackboard to receive lesson plans, submit course work, and to communicate with professors. Also, please provide your instructors, through Blackboard, with your most up-to-date telephone numbers.

We are very fortunate that we have the experience, the technology, and the resources to continue this semester entirely online. Our faculty and staff are working diligently to keep you on track toward your degrees, and we appreciate the hard work and flexibility from our entire campus community – especially from you, our dedicated students.

The College will continue to be open for students who feel safer remaining on campus than traveling home. While there will be no face-to-face classes, residence halls, dining services, academic support, and other limited services will remain open and available for students who stay on campus.

We know that many of you will likely have additional questions, so you can expect updates from Limestone on a regular basis throughout the rest of this semester.

Limestone still plans to have a meaningful graduation experience for seniors, and more information about that will be released at a later date.

As you know, it was announced last week that the College has cancelled all athletic competitions and practices for the remainder of the 2019-20 academic year. While the cancellations were necessary, we know that is valid that our student-athletes feel great sadness that their seasons are over. We, too, feel that sadness for you.

For those of you who have departed your residence halls to return home, please be assured that your belongings left behind will be held safely until such time a plan is developed for you to retrieve those items. Before we think about those next steps, we will focus on doing what is presently best for our community and our campus.

Regularly updated information from the College will be available at www.limestone.edu/corona and on your Blackboard accounts. Limestone is also asking that you check your email regularly for updates.

Be safe, support one another, and let’s all come back from this experience stronger than ever!

And don’t forget, regardless of what happens with the coronavirus situation, we will officially change our name to Limestone University starting on July 1 of this year – and we’re so grateful that all of you are a part of this historic occasion.

Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your loyalty. And thank you for being SAINTS!

Best regards,

Dr. Darrell Parker