Due to Hurricane Florence, the College is cancelling all classes and College events starting Tuesday, September 11, following an evacuation order for coastal counties issued by the S.C. Governor’s Office. All sporting events, campus activities and campus visits are also cancelled beginning Tuesday, September 11. All classes on the evening of Monday, September 10, will meet as scheduled.
This cancellation affects all classes, labs, meetings and other activities scheduled at the downtown campus (including Harbor Walk and Avery Research Center), North Campus, Patriot’s Point, Grice Marine Lab and the Lowcountry Graduate Center, including those courses taught in the English Language Institute and the Charleston Bridge Program.
Information regarding when classes will resume and the campus will reopen will be provided at a later date.
FOR STUDENTS
Students must make plans to leave campus by 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 12. For those students planning to leave Wednesday, after 12:00 p.m., please go to the Stern Student Center if you need to wait for your ride. The Stern Student Center will be open until 2:00 p.m. For those students needing College-provided transportation/shelter, see below for more instructions.
For students living in on-campus housing (including those students at 930 NoMo and in the English Language Institute and the Charleston Bridge Program), if you do not have transportation with a friend or family member and do not have an evacuation location, please check in to your residence hall’s front desk or fill out the Hurricane Florence Evacuation Needs Form (which is in addition to the MyCharleston form) by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11. Additional information regarding residence hall departures/closures will come from Residence Life.
PLEASE NOTE: Only fill out the Hurricane Florence Evacuation Needs Form if you need College-provided transportation and shelter. You will be signing up for a bus transporting you to the College’s designated emergency location. Note: students on these buses will not be choosing a destination. And students will not be allowed to leave that location until the College organizes the return trip to Charleston. Students needing transportation will assemble on Wednesday, September 12, at 11:00 a.m. at the Stern Student Center.
IMPORTANT: For those students riding College-provided transportation, please bring the following:
• your student ID
• a pillow
• blanket
• changes of clothes
• towel
• prescription medication(s)
• a small amount of emergency cash
• basic toiletry items
• laptops/computers
• textbooks
• course materials.
Students signed up for bus transport must return on that bus.
For students living off campus, if you do not have transportation with a friend or family member and do not have an evacuation location, please check in to a residence hall’s front desk or fill out the Hurricane Florence Evacuation Needs Form (which is in addition to the MyCharleston form) by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11.
PLEASE NOTE: Only fill out the Hurricane Florence Evacuation Needs Form if you need College-provided transportation and shelter. You will be signing up for a bus transporting you to the College’s designated emergency location. Note: students on these buses will not be choosing a destination. And students will not be allowed to leave that location until the College organizes the return trip to Charleston. Students needing transportation will assemble at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 12, at the Stern Student Center. Additional information will come from Residence Life.
IMPORTANT: For those students riding College-provided transportation, please bring the following:
• your student ID
• a pillow
• blanket
• changes of clothes
• towel
• prescription medication(s)
• a small amount of emergency cash
• basic toiletry items
• laptops/computers
• textbooks
• course materials.
Students signed up for bus transport must return on that bus.
For any student-related questions, please call the Division of Student Affairs at 843.953.5522 or refer to https://live-emergency-site.pantheonsite.io/studentpreparedness/.
For updates, please monitor your College of Charleston email and the College’s emergency website (emergency.cofc.edu).
FOR FACULTY AND STAFF
As a state institution, the College must follow state protocols in any closure/evacuation scenario.
All non-essential employees should not report to work on Tuesday, September 11. Essential employees from areas such as public safety, facilities management, residence hall and food service should report to work as previously scheduled. Supervisors of essential employees should notify their teams as soon as possible regarding their employees’ work schedule for September 11 and the rest of the week.
Before you leave work today, Monday, September 10, please follow your individual department/office hurricane plans in securing your offices and workspaces. The Division of Information Technology has provided guidelines for data protection/computer here: http://it.cofc.edu/emergency-preparedness/index.php.
RESUMPTION OF CLASSES
Additional information will be provided at a later time about the resumption of classes through Cougar Alert, email and the emergency.cofc.edu site. Our only priority at present is the safe evacuation of our students.
Depending on the duration and the severity of the storm, faculty and students may receive instructions about resuming instructional activities online. Such instructions would be provided only after ample time has been provided for a safe evacuation. Information on classroom instruction will come from Provost Brian McGee, including details on the use of storm make-up dates.
The College will provide at least 24 hours advance notice prior to the resumption of instructional activities.
We urge the entire College of Charleston community to follow the National Service Weather and local media for any possible changes in the weather.