Divinity School Coronavirus Information

The Divinity School will NOT have a full additional week of Spring Break after March 13. Rather, we will be moving as rapidly as we can to move online and have courses ready for students to stay as close to their original schedule as possible. However, it is likely that core courses and lecture classes will lag for a couple of days while preparations are made. Here is our rough rule-of-thumb as we adapt to these circumstances:

• Instructors of core and lecture-based classes (e.g., OT 753, NT 754, CH 751, XTIANETH 757, PREACHING 758, and PAR 778) are strongly encouraged to record lectures on Panopto or Zoom and post them to the Sakai site for their classes. For the week of March 16, we anticipate that Monday lectures will be posted by Wednesday, March 18, Tuesday lectures will be posted by Thursday (i.e., about a two-day delay), until we can get back on schedule the week of March 23.
• We anticipate that preceptorials for the core classes will meet next week at their scheduled times via Zoom, unless otherwise indicated by the lead professor. You will receive a link for a Zoom session from your preceptor.
• If you are in a seminar, please await instruction from your professor as to whether your class will meet virtually this week or will be canceled or whether there will be a written assignment to account for the week’s class work.
• For classes meeting synchronously and virtually, each class will meet at their regularly scheduled time and day of the week.

View the updated Academic Calendar with all dates remaining for the term.

Divinity students should enter the Divinity School buildings for individual research purposes only. In-person group meetings of any size among students in the building are highly discouraged. We encourage students to utilize digital meeting tools and online library resources whenever possible. As of now, the library will be open the week of March 16 (and there is online access for students, faculty, and staff).

All buildings on Duke’s main campus in Durham are in a controlled-access status that requires a DukeID card for entry. Faculty, staff, and students will be required to swipe their DukeCard ID or use the Mobile DukeCard to gain access to buildings that are open.

Duke faculty, staff and students should carry their cards or mobile credentials with them at all times. Also, please note that these policies, particularly around access to campus facilities, are subject to change on short notice.

The March 10 message from President Price mentioned that students who need to return to campus must register with Student Affairs in advance. We have verified with Student Affairs that this specific guidance only applies to students who live in on-campus student housing. Student Affairs has emailed the small number of graduate students living in on-campus student housing about this. Other graduate students do NOT need to register with Student Affairs before coming to campus.

Prospective Students

Please see the "Prospective Student Visits" section below for information on virtual visits and other online Admissions events.

Duke University announced on 3/17 that Duke Libraries will close to the Duke and broader communities on Wednesday March 18 at 5 p.m. 

The Divinity Library is closing to patrons at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 and will be closed until further notice. To those of you who would like to come in and check out one last round of books for your papers, please feel welcome to do so tomorrow before 5 p.m. Remember to have your Duke ID with you, as the building has transitioned to card access only, and keep in mind the need to practice social distancing.

Loan recall ability has been suspended for all Duke Libraries materials, for the next several weeks, and until university rhythms return to a sense of normalcy. This means you will not be able to request items that are checked out to another patron, and you should also not be getting any system-generated emails in your own inbox letting you know an item you have on loan (in Durham, in California, or anywhere else) has been recalled and needs to be returned to the library within the week. In fact, if you have a library book, just hang on to it. We cannot predict exactly what our access to campus going forward will be; nor can we be sure what mail delivery will look like. Shipments between libraries are coming to a close, and other Duke libraries are nailing their exterior book drops shut this week. Just don’t try to return your books. During this period, we will not be running fine reports for overdue items, and librarians are working behind the scenes to renew items that are already overdue so that no new fines will accrue. Finally, for those of you who are graduating and wondering how you will clear your library account in May in the midst of all this uncertainty, we are working on this issue, and you’ll hear from us when we have a solution.

In anticipation of these closures and restrictions, we have also been hard at work at the Divinity Library to support your transition to online course work, and to help you continue to be able to access library resources remotely. Here are three important ways we’re doing that:

Divinity E-Reserves

If you are not already taking advantage of the Divinity Library’s E-Reserves collection, you should check it out. (The page is linked from the yellow bulletin on the main announcements page of the Divinity Library website.) As its name suggests, the E-Reserves page duplicates our print Reserve collection using electronic copies of the textbooks required for your classes. This enables you to access your readings for class from anywhere. Look for your course readings under your professor’s last name. We are also coordinating with faculty to add more books to this guide that will help you navigate through to your final assignments, so stay tuned.

Online Resources and Online Tutorials

The Divinity Library has many electronic resources and databases to assist you in carrying on your research remotely, from Atla and JSTOR to Oxford Biblical Studies Online to the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception. Check out this quick reference guide to 13 databases and search strategies we think you should know about. We also know that sometimes it’s not enough to be shown the homepage of a database; some of these resources are hard to navigate. So we are putting together some database tutorials, like this one demonstrating how to search the Intelex Past Masters resource. Is there a particular resource you would like help learning to use? Reach out using our Ask a Librarian e-mail form, and we’ll work on it with you. 

Scanning Requests for Divinity Materials

So much can be accomplished using the Divinity E-Reserves page and our online databases, but one of the main draws of the Divinity School Library is its unique and wide-ranging print collection, and we want to keep that collection as available to you as possible. The Divinity Library is currently partnering with Document Delivery Services to use the ILLiad client software to deliver scanned materials. After March 18, unless and until the campus shuts down entirely, one or two of us a day will be coming in to fulfill scanning requests placed through ILLiad. While we can’t scan entire books due to copyright laws, you should feel free to use ILLiad to request chapters and essays from Divinity materials, and we’ll get them to you electronically. Please understand that this is a new, temporary service put in place to help us all respond to the spread of Coronavirus, and we will need your patience – your Divinity Librarians are still learning the software involved, and our ability to travel to campus and access our building is in no way guaranteed in the weeks ahead. However, for as long as we’re able to do so safely and in compliance with university protocols and CDC guidelines, we intend to support your research and online coursework in this way. So feel free to get started. Not sure how to place an ILLiad request? Follow this step-by-step guide.

Have a question? Call the Divinity Library circulation desk (919-660-3450), or submit your question using the Ask a Librarian email form. Let us know how we can support you.

As a general rule, all events between now and May 7 are canceled. (Please see the "Prospective Student Visits" section below for information on virtual student visits and other online recruitment events.) Updates on any rescheduled events or online events will be noted on our Events page as available.

Using guidance we have received from Duke University, at this time we are moving all scheduled visits to a virtual format. We invite you to join one of our meetings to learn more and talk about whether Duke Divinity School is the best fit for your theological education. Zoom visits will be offered most Wednesdays and Thursdays during the spring. Learn more about Zoom visits and options for one-on-one video chats with Admissions.

We are especially sensitive to the economic impact of COVID-19 and are committed to minimizing the financial disruption to all those who depend upon employment at the Divinity School. At this time, student workers who live off-campus are permitted to continue their work at the Divinity School or remotely with approval from their supervisor. We will be working with supervisors to ensure, where possible, that appropriate work opportunities continue for students during this transitional time.

At this time, we are ceasing all on-site participation in field education for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year placement period. To be clear, students will continue to participate in field education and receive compensation accordingly.

The Office of Field Education will provide regular updates and information to support learning and serving from a distance. 

Duke University has issued new guidance for international students. Please review this information, available on Duke's Coronavirus Response website, for detailed information.

The University and Divinity School, following recommendations from the Governor’s office, have encouraged managers to allow employees who are able to work remotely to do so on a temporary basis. At this time, working remotely is an option, not a requirement. Managers have received email instruction on how to navigate flexible work arrangements, and staff should work directly with their supervisor to ensure that appropriate technology and remote access to work documents are available to them.

Working from home includes abiding by Duke’s Standards of Conduct and Duke’s Flexible Work Guidelines. Duke has developed a "Quick Start Guide to Working Remotely" that includes information, resources and links to communication and productivity tools that can assist staff and supervisors in considering and setting up a remote working arrangement. All alternate work situations should be discussed and approved in advance with your direct supervisor.

Regardless of whether you work in the office or telecommute, you should take time now to download Zoom. Duke University is recommending this technology for virtual meetings and conferences. Having Zoom readily available on your computer will allow you to connect with others who may be working away from the office.

Duke has prepared a Q&A with answers to managers and employee’s concerns about being sick, working from home, pay if quarantined, etc. We encourage you to review all the information that has been made available.