Important Advice for Fall 2020 OCS Students Related to Coronavirus

This is an archived message. Please check the most recent updates to ensure you have the most current information. 

Released: March 4, 2020 at 10 a.m. PST

Dear Fall 2020 OCS applicants/students,

As I am sure you are aware, the new coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a health concern around the world this spring. Because it has spread rapidly in some locations and resulted in the suspension of some study abroad programs (namely in China, South Korea and Italy), we realize that you may have concerns about the status of your Fall 2020 OCS program. At this point, we have no reason to believe that any Fall 2020 OCS program will be cancelled due to travel restrictions or health concerns.

Because the situation is so fluid, to be on the safe side, we highly recommend that all Fall 2020 and Academic Year 2020-21 students take the following steps as they plan for their semester(s) away:

• Register for your courses off campus and pre-register at Whitman for Fall 2020 courses on campus.
• Wait to buy your plane ticket for your OCS semester. In some cases, if you need to show a ticket in order to get your student visa, you can usually just show and itinerary without showing proof of purchase. Contact Associate Director Barbara Hoffman if you have questions about this.
• OCS programs tend to be very reasonable regarding refunds if the program itself cancels. In other words, if you pay your program's enrollment deposit, and the program is cancelled, we expect that study abroad providers will provide a refund on the deposit.
• If are not able to study abroad this fall and you need housing for Fall 2020 on campus, please contact Residence Life at on_campus_housing@whitman.edu.

We are here to support our OCS students to have a rich, rewarding and safe semester/year away and will do our best to communicate with you about precautions related to this health issue.

If you have any questions or concerns about how to plan for next year, please contact me or another member of the OCS staff.

Thank you so much.

Sincerely,

Susan

Susan Holme
Director, Off-Campus Studies
Whitman College
Memorial Building 205
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA 99362 USA
509-527-4992
holmeSL@whitman.edu