Please see the COVID-19 dashboard for the most current information regarding active cases.

Yes, MMA is open, but in-person classes are suspended as of Friday, November 13 and we are transitioning to remote instruction for the final days of the semester. While we continue to monitor the health of our community and follow guidance from national and state health officials, until further notice, we are continuing to staff offices on campus while limiting group gatherings and implementing social distancing (6 feet between individuals).

Yes. The MMA Fitness Center and Pool are closed until further notice. The bookstore will maintain normal, business hours through Wednesday, November 25, 2020, pending COVID-19 impacts to the campus and the Castine community. After that time, hours will be reduced through the month of December. Please refer to the bookstore website for updated information.

Admissions tours and information sessions will continue for the week of November 16 and will resume in January if current conditions permit.

Athletics will implement a phased return to practice and competition, similar to what was implemented in the fall. More information is available at the Marinersports website.

Residence Life has made plans to allow several days for students to pack and move out of your room by Wednesday, November 18 at 5:00 pm. Students must make an appointment to check out of their room at the End of Semester Check Out form on MyStudentLife.mma.edu under “Housing Forms.” Those who cannot immediately make travel arrangements may request extra time by emailing Janice Folk at janice.folk@mma.edu. We are finding that the major airlines are waiving fees for flight changes, so please take a look at your current travel plans and see if you are able to make new arrangements. Residence Life has sent out check-out procedures to all residents.

Dean Davis will contact you directly to discuss your plans but students in quarantine can remain on campus, with meals provided, through 11/24/20. All students currently in quarantine should have their quarantine completed by that date.

Students are encouraged to bring as many belongings home as possible. Any items left in student rooms should be packaged and placed on the student’s bed. While we are not requiring all belongings to go home with students, we do want to be prepared for worst-case scenarios, such as the need to place student belongings in storage or mail them home. Packaging belongings helps us with this preparation.

Yes, we will provide transportation to the Bangor airport. We cannot make individual trips for specific flights, so please send your flight info, including date and time, to Casey Littlefield at casey.littlefield@mma.edu so we can coordinate daily times that work for several people at a time.

If you live off campus, you can decide what is best for your circumstances and should consult with your landlord.

Meals will be provided on a take-out basis through dinner on Wednesday, November 18^th. Arrangements have been made to provide meals for students in quarantine or who have permission to remain on campus beyond the 18^th.

Residence Life has storage available for residential students and has provided instructions via email regarding how to access it.

Please contact Janice Folk at Janice.Folk@mma.edu to make arrangements or to authorize a proxy to pack and remove your belongings.

Items can be shipped at the Castine post office, or on campus through UPS or FedEx. Shipping labels can be created and paid for on USPS.com, UPS.com or FedEx.com or in person at the post office. Packages with shipping labels can be dropped at the mail room or at Central Receiving, even those for the post office if you are unable to get to the post office. The Post Office hours are below:

All rental customers were contacted last week via email with “how to” instructions for returning fall rental materials.

Students may get rental books back to the bookstore by any means that work as long as you adhere to the check-in dates. Please check in items no longer needed before leaving campus; purchase a pre-paid shipping label from the campus store prior to leaving campus; call the store prior to the check-in date to pay for a pre-paid label over the phone (it will be emailed to you) or by shipping via any trackable means from home.

Please contact Campus Safety for questions about long-term parking.

Contact Courtney Peed at courtney.peed@mma.edu or Jim Stinson at jim.stinson@mma.edu for any questions regarding mail forwarding.

Classes will be conducted remotely for the remainder of the Fall 2020 semester. All students should begin evaluating their access to the Internet at their new location and develop a plan on how to best connect to Canvas and MMA email from there.

Individual instructors will notify you via Canvas and/or email. Note that if your course has a lab or labs that is/are required for the class, or STCW competencies that have to be completed, via face-to-face interaction, you may be required to return to Castine in the spring semester to complete that work, likely on an expedited basis. This will be discussed on a class-by-class basis by your instructor as the remote instruction period proceeds.

Finals, where possible, will be conducted remotely. Your instructors should reach out to you with a plan as to how that will be accomplished. Similarly, they should contact you regarding the plan for your labs scheduled for the week of November 16. Please note that, in both cases, there may be requirements that require these events to be conducted face-to-face. In that case, you will be given an Incomplete for this term and complete those requirements when we return to campus in the spring.

We are posting a guide to help you transition to online learning. It is filled with ideas, resources, and contacts that experienced faculty believe could really help you to do well. So, start with the guide, but reach out if you still have concerns. We suggest you contact instructors directly with specific concerns, or Joceline Boucher at the Buoy House with concerns that are more general in nature (joceline.boucher@mma.edu, 207-326-2489).

There likely are local internet resources you may have access to, such as your local library, in your new location. During the period between campus closure and the start of remote instruction, you should be investigating your options and developing a plan for how you will obtain internet access.

If you have items checked out from our Library and need to keep them past the end of the semester, please contact us at library@mma.edu to renew them. We would be happy to renew your items until the Spring semester, but we need to hear from you in order to do this!

If you have borrowed items from another Library through Interlibrary Loan, please return these before leaving campus to avoid being billed. (Our book return is accessible in our hallway 24 hours a day.)

We’re here to help! If you are working on projects or papers as the semester draws to a close, keep in mind that our resources are available from anywhere at library.mma.edu, and that we are on hand to help you via email, phone, chat or Zoom! Chat hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday – Friday. We can help you find and cite quality sources for assignments in all subject areas

At this time, our plan for January is to return to campus and to operate in a similar manner to our Fall 2020 semester. Please monitor your MMA email for updates as we will keep you apprised of any changes to our current plan via email.

If you have been exposed to someone diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus and get sick with fever (100.4 F or higher) or cough, or have trouble breathing, or have lost your sense of taste/smell:

• Seek medical care. Call ahead before visiting the Health Center (326-2305), your doctor’s office or an emergency room. Medical staff will ask you questions and properly prepare for your arrival.
• Tell your health care provider about your recent travel and your symptoms.
• Avoid contact with others.

The Health Center will be open through November 20 with regular hours.

In the meantime, please continue to practice general hygiene and build your immunity by washing your hands frequently and thoroughly, avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, getting enough sleep, and avoiding close contact with those who are sick.

Yes, your student insurance remains in place regardless of where you are located. More information is available here.

As can be seem on the Spring/Summer 2021 academic calendar, plans for two training cruises on the TS State of Maine are continuing and we currently envision that we will be able get all four unlimited license program students to sea next summer. Similar planning for cruises on the schooner Bowdoin is also in progress for limited license program students.

There is a plan for giving every student the opportunity to cadet ship next summer. There are no guarantees as available spaces depend on what companies can offer, but if the berths are available everyone will have the opportunity to both cadet ship and complete their needed cruise during summer 2021.

Students preparing to cadet ship should focus on their studies and their class ranking, which determines who gets first opportunity at available billets. They should also monitor their e-mail for communications from Deborah Harman, our Commercial Shipping Coordinator. Please do not 1) contact companies directly, or 2) ask for special treatment. If you have a personal or family connection with a company, please contact Deborah Harman for instructions.

The plan for co-ops will be developed in early spring in consultation with the host employers. Academy officials will make decisions regarding 2021 co-op placements based on guidance and information provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and host companies.

Students planning to participate should enroll in the summer course appropriate to the student’s major and continue to prepare and meet all course deadlines and pre-requisites, including physicals and all requested documentation.