COVID-19 Updates
The Duke Global Education Office (GEO) is closely monitoring the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation around the world. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to GEO's health, safety, and security officer, Shawn Lenker, at shawn.lenker@duke.edu.
If this pandemic has impacted your plans for this summer, visit Duke's Keep Exploring website, which outlines courses, co-curricular, and experiential learning opportunities.
In response to the uncertainty of the situation, we have created new policies and deadlines in order to assist you and your family in planning for your fall study away experience. We suggest you take the following actions:
- Complete your GEO Participation Agreement and return it to Deborah Kearney, dkearney@duke.edu by May 1st. Complete all subsequent post-decision items for your study away program. Check MyGlobalEd for the Participation Agreement and details on post-decision items.
- Register for Duke fall courses. If your fall study away program runs, GEO will withdraw you from your Duke campus courses on July 15, 2020. The last day to re-enroll in Duke classes for the fall 2020 semester is the last day of the drop/add period.
- Apply for fall housing, if you haven’t already. If you have declined fall housing, you’ll have the opportunity to reapply in the summer if your study away plans change.
- Please do not book travel, transportation, and/or accommodations until your program has been confirmed by your GEO Program Manager or your Duke-Approved program.
- Prepare as much travel paperwork as possible, considering the limitations and expected delays outlined below:
- For US Citizens, if you do not have a passport or need to renew your passport (which must be valid for six months after your scheduled return date), the U.S. Department of State has announced restrictions and/or delays in passport processing. More information can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html.
- If a visa is necessary for your program, you can find instructions for obtaining a student visa either on MyGlobalEd for Duke-In programs or from your Duke-approved program. Many consulates have different operating procedures right now and you should call to confirm that they are processing student visas.
- International students planning to study away this fall should reach out to either their GEO Program Manager or their Duke-Approved program if they have questions or concerns about travel restrictions.
- Students in Duke-In programs should attend their program's virtual pre-departure meetings which will be held in June for enrolled students.
Program Withdrawal Procedures
Duke-administered programs:
If you know now that you will not participate in your Fall 2020 study away program, you can withdraw through this online form. If you are not ready to make a decision yet, you will have until July 15th to withdraw without financial commitment. If you decide to withdraw from the program before July 15th, your deposit will be refunded to your Duke account and you will remain enrolled in your Duke on-campus courses. Review the updated Fall 2020 responsibility-to-pay policy here: https://globaled.duke.edu/finances/withdrawal-cancellation.
Duke-approved programs:
If you decide you will not participate in your Fall 2020 study away program, please withdraw your application in MyGlobalEd. If you have already completed your Participation Agreement, please complete this withdrawal form and return it by email only to globaled@duke.edu. Check with your individual program providers regarding their cancellation, withdrawal, and refund policies. Also, you should inform any non-Duke programs that you are withdrawing your application.
At this point, we are hoping your study away program will run, but GEO is monitoring many factors beyond our control, such as immigration policies, travel restrictions, airline schedules, and onsite conditions. We will keep you updated as to any changes in our fall plans, and hope to make a determination about the viability of running your program by early summer. We know this situation is challenging, and we appreciate your patience and flexibility. If you have questions or concerns, please email your study away advisor: https://globaled.duke.edu/advising.
We are still recruiting for our spring 2021 programs. At this point, we don’t anticipate COVID-19 impacting our spring 2021 programs; however, this is a rapidly evolving situation that could change with little warning.
All students studying on Duke and non-Duke study away programs both internationally and domestically have been recalled. For more details, please visit Duke’s COVID-19 website, https://sites.duke.edu/coronavirus/.
Students enrolled in Duke credit classes on Duke-administered study away programs should follow the Spring 2020 Duke S/U grading policy change announced by the university on 3/18/2020. Specifically, the default grade setting for Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U) grading option will apply to Duke-credited courses in study away programs. If students choose to receive a letter grade for a class, they can do so by submitting the S/U to Graded form to the Office of the University Registrar at https://registrar.duke.edu/forms/su-graded. Non-Duke students enrolled in Duke-administered programs, including ICCS Rome, should consult with their home institutions regarding preferred grading policy.
Students enrolled in transfer credit courses may follow the grading schema of the transcripting institution of their study abroad program. In other words, if Arcadia University implements its own S/U grading option for Spring 2020 grades, Duke will recognize and evaluate the credit as transcripted. Transfer courses will continue to appear on the Duke transcript with one of three designations:
- TR – transfer credit that counts towards your total credit requirement
- TR* - transfer credit that counts towards your course requirements
- TNC – the designation for course earning less than a C-, no credit is received
For questions regarding Duke study away/study abroad courses and grading options, please message globaled@duke.edu or leave a message at 919-684-2174.
GEO continues to work with students in the field to help them finish out their spring semesters in the least disruptive way possible. Any updates will be communicated directly to the impacted students
All Duke study away programs, both international and domestic, have been cancelled for summer 2020. For more details, please visit Duke’s COVID-19 website, https://sites.duke.edu/coronavirus/.
As a result of these cancellations, the student responsibilities outlined in the summer 2020 Participation Agreement are no longer in effect. Students have no further obligations to the Global Education Office for their summer 2020 programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will GEO cancel any fall programs?
GEO’s goal is to run our programs as long as it is safe to do so. Unfortunately, this is a rapidly evolving situation that may warrant suspending or cancelling current or future programs.
The decision to suspend or cancel a program is not one that the university takes lightly. In addition to GEO’s own careful assessment of events, such a decision would be based on world events and informed by consultations with various parties, which may include:
- Duke program administrators
- Officials at partner institutions
- U.S. State Department officials
- Officials from other U.S. agencies (for example, the CDC)
- Private-sector international security experts
- Other relevant Duke University offices
What happens if GEO cancels a program?
In the event that Duke should have to suspend or cancel a specific Duke-administered study away program due to COVID-19, thereby causing no academic credit to be awarded, full refunds of Duke-billed expenses will be made. This includes a refund of the program fee, should a program be canceled after the commitment date, but before the start of the program.
Carefully consider non-billable expenses (e.g. personal and travel expenses) when planning your program participation. We recommend you purchase travel insurance, though you should make sure it is clear what and when expenses will be covered by your travel insurance policy.
If Duke terminates a program early but makes arrangements for students to earn full or partial credit, the tuition refund amount would reflect these circumstances. Whether or not credit is awarded would depend on the particular program and when the suspension or cancellation takes place, among other factors.
Students studying away on Duke-approved programs, sponsored by another institution, are subject to the cancellation and refund policies, if any, of the respective institution.