Welcome to the spring semester

Press the play button to watch the video

Dear Carolina Community,

Welcome to the first day of classes of the 2021 Spring Semester. I hope you had a good winter break and were able to find opportunities to rest after a challenging year. We have many reasons to be excited and optimistic for the months to come, which I’ve shared in my video above to open the new term.

As we start the new year, we know many challenges remain. With record COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in North Carolina and around the country, we remain concerned for the health and safety of our campus. It is critical that we follow the COVID-19 Community Standards. This is the most important way that we can serve our fellow Tar Heels and accept the important responsibility of taking care of each other.

Since we began our on-campus Carolina Together Testing Program, our results have shown you are doing your part to protect yourselves and the well-being of our community. We have successfully conducted over 7,000 tests of students, faculty and staff in the first week. This comprehensive testing, in combination with prior to arrival and return testing, has enabled us to keep our positive rate very low on this campus. Thank you to our Carolina Testing Team and hundreds of student volunteers for their efforts to make this initiative possible. For more information, see yesterday’s email to campus with details on hours of operation, HallPass, volunteer opportunities and more.

Thank you to our faculty and staff for the hard work you’ve done in preparing for this semester. Whether you are on campus or at home, know that you are a valued member of this community. Our purpose is to discover solutions to the grand challenges of our time, and you are a critical part of that mission.

Thank you and Go Heels!

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Chancellor