2/26/21

Dear students,

Hello again!  Thanks for continuing to read my weekly Friday emails.  I have just a couple of things to share today:

1. The Lake County Health Department is seeking volunteers to help with the mass vaccine distribution effort in our area by recruiting new members of the ‘Medical Reserve Corps.’ See this webpage to apply to volunteer!  No medical experience is needed for many of the roles.
    
2. Y’all are doing a GREAT job adhering to our requirement that you get COVID-tested weekly. Just for fun, as promised, we entered all of you into a raffle for a pair of AirPod Pro wireless headphones, and the winner is JANE WOOD ’24!  Congrats, Jane.
   
   
3. We’re headed into the weekend… happy about Phase 2… and the weather is getting warmer. It’s incumbent upon all of us to make sure that we remain diligent in following all aspects of the Forester Commitment both on- and off-campus.  Here are a few reminders about Phase 2:
   Residential students are now able to visit other students in their rooms, including those in other residence halls (and commuting students are able to visit campus residence halls) under these parameters: Approval from all roommates involved has been freely given, masks are worn 100% of the time, six feet of physical distance is maintained, and the capacity of the room is not exceeded. (Capacity can be estimated by envisioning the number of people who can each be six feet away from all others in the room.)

As always, please step up and say something if you see peers who aren’t taking COVID seriously. By working together, we can stay healthy and well!  If you’ve read this all the way through, please write me back and tell me a joke! (Extra points if they’re kid-friendly, or puns. Or kid-friendly puns.)

Andrea

__________________________________________

Andrea B. Conner

Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Lake Forest College
conner@lakeforest.edu

2/24/21

Dear students,

We are happy to announce that we will transition to PHASE 2, effective immediately (today, Wednesday, February 24).  Here’s what Phase 2 means for us*:

1)    Residential students are now able to visit other students in their rooms, including those in other residence halls (and commuting students are able to visit campus residence halls) under these parameters:

a.    Approval from all roommates involved has been freely given.
b.    Masks are worn 100% of the time.
c.     Six feet of physical distance is maintained.
d.    The capacity of the room is not exceeded. (Please use common sense regarding the capacity of the room. How many people can be in the room and be six feet away from every other person? Anything beyond that is a violation of the Forester Commitment.)

2)    Several additional recreational and work-out opportunities are now available:

a.    (Beginning Friday, 2/26) Students, faculty, and staff are permitted to schedule consecutive blocks of time for workouts through LibCal (i.e. book a treadmill for two slots in a row).  Additionally, you may now move around the building from one hour to the next (i.e. book a treadmill at 2pm followed by the weight room at 3pm). Masking and social distancing are mandatory in these areas.

b.    (Effective now) Open skate times are available in the ice rink from 12-3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and this does not need to be booked through LibCal. Masking and social distancing are mandatory in the rink.

c.     (Beginning next week, date to be announced) Open swim will begin soon, and a schedule will be released in a separate e-mail as soon as possible. Pool locker rooms will be available for changing clothes for open swim, masks must be worn on the pool deck and in the locker rooms, and open swim slots must be booked in LibCal.

*Friendly reminder that this does not apply to remote students, faculty, or staff who are classified as such and are not participating in our testing program.

I imagine we’ll be in Phase 2 for at least two weeks. If you’re curious about Phase 3, the original language from the Spring 2021 Plan about the Phases is pasted below my signature line. 

I know this news will be exciting for many of you, and yet I must remind us all that it’s important to stay diligent to #protecttheforest. Keep looking out for yourself and your peers, and if you see someone violating any part of the Forester Commitment, please speak up and say something in the moment. Your intervention is powerful! Together, we can enact the necessary precautions to ensure the continued safety of our campus community!

You’ll hear from me again at the end of the day on Friday with the winner of this week’s raffle in the Testing Clinic.  Until then, be well!

Andrea
__________________________________________

Andrea B. Conner
Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Lake Forest College
conner@lakeforest.edu

FROM THE SPRING 2021 PLAN:

Social Experiences: Students who have been isolated for months are understandably enthusiastic about human interaction and will seek opportunities to connect with other students in person. We hope to support this process, but only insofar as we can protect the safety of our community. The College has designed a phased re-entry to campus social life that observes the following stages:

Phase 1 / Early-arrival period and first two weeks of classes: Students should only leave their residence hall rooms for meals in a dining facility, classes, to visit the library or Sports and Rec Center by reservation, official practices (as applicable), and outdoor exercise. No indoor social gatherings are permitted.

Phase 2 / Second two weeks of classes: Students can visit residence halls other than their own, but only while wearing masks, maintaining six feet of social distance, obtaining consent from any applicable roommates, and complying with occupancy limitations of the room they are visiting.

Phase 3 / Third two weeks of classes and beyond: Expanded access for students to gather (with masks and six feet of distance) in the Mohr Student Center, residence hall lounges, fraternity and sorority lounges, and the student organization lounges under new capacity limits for the square-footage of the space. Except in the Mohr Student Center, attendance cannot exceed 25 students in any of these spaces.

February 24, 2021

The Housing Contract for the 2021-2022 academic year is now available in the MyHousing portal. You can access the portal here.

Completing the housing contract is the all-important first step in being able to participate in the Room Selection process to choose your room for next year. Make sure you click all the way through to submit the contract. You will receive a confirmation when it has been submitted successfully. Please keep in mind the housing contract is for the full academic year. If you believe you may be in a unique circumstance, please refer to the attached Room Selection Guide and then reach out to our office.

Important Dates:
The Room Selection process spans several weeks from start to finish, and it’s important to keep the following dates in mind:

• February 24 – Housing Contract Opens
• March 12 – Housing Contract Closes at 11:59 p.m.
• March 30, 31, April 1 – Room Selection Nights
• April 5 – Housing Contract Reopens for Late Applicants

Information Sessions:
We will be holding two information sessions for students to ask questions and learn more about all of the Room Selection processes. In order to attend and receive the Zoom information for each session, you must register at the link below. The first part of each session will be a brief overview and then shift into a Q&A format. Please feel free to come and go as you need during that hour. The sessions will be very similar so attending both is not a necessity to get all the information you’ll need.

• Info Session #1 will be held on March 4 at 4:00 p.m.
• Info Session #2 will be held on March 15 at 6:00 p.m.

Registration Form Link

Accommodations Pre-Assignment Process:
As always, we will be communicating with students with pre-approved accommodations about our pre-assignment process. This is only for students with approved accommodations for room type, air conditioning, building accessibility, bathroom access, and other related accommodations. We don’t pre-assign based on ESA or meal plan exemption accommodations. If this process pertains to you, please expect an email from our office on March 15th about next steps.

Cleveland-Young Housing Application:
The application to live in Cleveland-Young is also available now. The deadline is the same as the housing contract – March 12th at 11:59pm. You can access the application here: CY Housing Application.

Roommate Search and Selection:
The process for roommate selection will occur once the housing contract has closed and will only be available for students with completed contracts. More information on the roommate matching process will be sent via email on March 15th.

If you have any questions, please refer to the attached Room Selection Guidebook. We are also more than happy to accept questions via email at reslife@lakeforest.edu.

Jordan Ahlersmeyer-Huang
Pronouns: he/him/his
Associate Director of Residence Life
Office of Residence Life, Rosemary House
847-735-6232

February 23, 2021

Dear Students and Faculty:

I am pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for students to apply for financial support of independent quantitative research projects.

Funded by a generous trustee of the College, the James Rocco Quantitative Data Research Scholarship provides up to $5,000 to support innovative, student-designed quantitative research projects to be carried out during the summer or the academic year. The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage the development of skills in using quantitative methods to derive information from data. This set of skills is increasingly important in many career paths and academic fields. Enormous amounts of data are now available in almost every academic field, providing numerous opportunities for quantitatively based research projects that mine data for information. Provided the proposed topic is quantitatively based; the only limits on the field of study are student ingenuity and creativity. One topic might involve statistical analysis of a financial market; another might seek to improve the algorithms used in a consumer products search engine; a third might investigate the application of quantitative analysis to literary or historical texts. A student may also propose a project in which he or she would learn a new computer language, for example, if knowledge of the language is required for a subsequent quantitative project the student hopes to undertake.

Depending on the nature of the project, it could form the subject for a credit-bearing independent study, research project or senior thesis. Alternatively, the project can be non-credit-bearing. Such projects might attract support from a College trustee or alumnus who would be willing to help advance and market its results. Students interested in applying for a James Rocco Quantitative Data Research Scholarship should speak with Professor Muris Hadzic, or Professor Arthur Bousquet

Funding is not guaranteed for any proposal. All proposals will be evaluated by a committee of faculty and community members, and only the strongest proposals will be eligible to receive support.

Interested students should submit their proposals via email to Professor Hadzic no later than March 31, 2021, to be considered for support during either the summer or the following academic year. The proposals also need to include a faculty reference that can provide expert opinion on your project proposal, and ideally serve as an informal mentor for the project. Based on a review of the submitted project proposals, selected students will be contacted with further details. The detailed guidelines regarding project proposals and general rules and requirements of James Rocco Quantitative Data Research Scholarship can be found here.

A full description of the scholarship is also available here.

Please contact Professor Hadzic at hadzic@mx.lakeforest.edu with any additional questions.

Muris Hadzic
Assistant Professor of Finance
Lake Forest College
555 North Sheridan Road
Lake Forest, IL 60045-2338
Tel: 847-735-5021

The COVID Testing Clinic is excited to announce that starting this week we will be swapping out the brand of rapid antigen test we are using. Our new rapid antigen test used in the clinic for students, faculty, and staff will be the BinaxNOW made by Abbott, and you will now have access to your test results via the NAVICA app.

This new rapid antigen test does not change how your routine weekly testing process will occur, and you will now have access to your test results via the NAVICA app.

On Tuesday, you will receive an email containing the connect code that will allow you to link your NAVICA account to Lake Forest College. Please check your junk/spam folder if you do not see it in your inbox. If you still do not receive an email, please contact the COVID Testing Clinic to be added for an invitation to connect to NAVICA.

Please see below on more important information on BinaxNOW and instructions how to download the NAVICA app.

BinaxNOW and NAVICA app FAQs

• BinaxNOW is a rapid antigen test that is FDA EUA approved and produced in the USA by Abbott. It is supported by the NAVICA app.
• Test results are directly sent to participants that have enrolled via their NAVICA app. The NAVICA app is available to download at the Apple and Google Play stores.
• The NAVICA app is a convenience and provides quick notification of your test results. After completing the test, you will receive a notice from the NAVICA app that your results are ready. Log in to the app to view your results. If your NAVICA app is not working, you can still take the test.
• If your rapid antigen test is inconclusive or positive, a member of the COVID Testing Clinic will contact you via cell phone or email.
• If you do not have a smartphone, please continue to operate on a “no news is good news” model. You will only be contacted if your test result is positive or inconclusive.

NAVICA APP Set Up Instructions

The NAVICA app is available for all smartphones. BinaxNOW test results are directly sent to participants that have enrolled via their NAVICA app. The app also displays a historical record of all test results and produces a digital confirmation of your test that can be shared with any organization that requires it to demonstrate testing compliance. Please check your emails for an invitation from noreply@navica.abbott with a subject line, NAVICA Invitation from Lake Forest College for your invitation to download the NAVIA app.

1. The NAVICA app is available for download at the Apple and Google Play stores.
2. Open the app and ‘Create an account’. Read and agree to the terms and conditions.
   Verify your email. A verification code will be sent to the email address you provide in Sign Up Genius appointment scheduler. You will have to enter the verification code to continue the creation of the account.
3. Create a password.
4. Create your profile. There is an option to scan the barcode on the back of your driver’s license. By doing so, your name, date of birth, and address automatically populate. A confirmation process for those fields will follow.
5. Screenshot QR code. Screenshot or take a picture of your QR code. This QR code will be scanned and associated with your COVID-19 test. You can access the QR codes under the ‘Get Tested’ tab. Select ‘Display NAVICA ID’. You will be required to show your QR code during the antigen test.
6. If you have further questions regarding the NAVICA app, please click here.

As a reminder, if you have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last three (3) months, you will not be subject to testing until 90 days after the positive test date. Please contact Kathy Salinger at salinger@lakeforest.edu to provide a screenshot or phot evidence of your positive date. You will still need to sign up for your reoccurring appointment day/time to reserve your spot after the 90 days concludes.

If you have any questions, please email the COVID Testing Clinic.

Thank you for upholding the Forester Commitment. Together, we will protect you and the Forester family.

Sincerely,

COVID Testing Clinic
Email: clinic@mx.lakeforest.edu

The Registrar’s Office is going paperless! Over the course of the semester, we will be switching all forms from PDF/paper to online forms that can be completely filled out, approved by advisors, and submitted to the Registrar’s Office through my.lakeforest. You can find these new forms under Students > Student Forms > Registrar Forms.

Starting Tuesday, February 23, all Pass-Fail, Pass-Fail Reversion, and Course Withdrawal Forms must be submitted through my.lakeforest.

Instructions for filling out all three form types:

• Spring 2021 Pass-Fail Form
• Pass/Fail Reversion Form
• Course Withdrawal Form

These instructions are also posted in your my.lakeforest > Student Forms > Registrar PDF and Word Forms.  We will no longer accept PDF or paper forms for these requests.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

Best,
Katie Isler
Registrar’s Office
Transfer and Registration Coordinator