Coronavirus Response Updates

For the list of HEC Accomplishments during the COVID-19 Pandemic, please refer to the page HEC Actions During COVID-19.

' This information was last updated 15 May 2020, after confinement was terminated in France. ' It may be outdated now.

This information is supplemental to the official information provided by HEC on the Portal. If there is a conflict between the two, always go with what the Portal says.

Remember to check your HEC emails for info about school related activities and seminars that may interest you. New info below, italicized and labelled new info.

Deconfinement & Campus Life
Phase 1: May 11 to June 2.. There will be other phases after that with different rules.

Deconfinement rules are partially dependent on department. In the Yvelines (where HEC is located) the situation is more severe and therefore, the rules may be different or modified than elsewhere.

Confinement continues but with more lax rules with regards to number of people and attestations:

- Gatherings of 10 people outdoors will be reauthorized, with 2 meter distance from each other and without sharing any items (you cannot play sports, nor share food etc.)

- No collective sports outside, and no sports (individual or collective) are permitted indoors (ie, a gym facility - you obviously can work out at home)

- The outdoor gym may be reopened for 10 people to use at a time. Still in discussion.

- Some shops will reopen

- Bars, restaurants and shopping malls, cinemas, theaters etc. will remain closed

- HEC has, in S Café and the cafeteria, the food options that existed at the start of the crisis. Breakfast: 08h30 - 10h30 // Lunch: 11h30 - 14h00. Dinner will continue to be provided by food trucks due to their popularity.

- There is no more distribution of free food 2 times per week.

- Self-isolation rules continue - if you enter into contact with someone confirmed with the virus, you will have to go into 14 day quarantine, just like you would have to now.

- No attestation required for travel up to 100 km. Beyond 100 km, you will need an attestation (important to note, just because you can travel, doesn't mean you should)

- HEC will not mandate the use of masks on campus unless obligated by authorities. You can still receive masks for free from the infirmary. The school also is distributing masks for free that are provided by Jouy.

- Campus remains closed - you should avoid to the max extent possible returning to HEC (some of you have returned, but this was a case by case basis with specific reasons).

- SAVAC will not resume travel to and from Paris or elsewhere: campus remains closed.

- We are still asking to see if we can perhaps get some occasional shuttles to and from the city, even if it's not the regular program that we're used to.

There are still many unknowns such as when the canteen can reopen etc.

HEC is looking to have a system to ship personal belonging back to your homes by some time in June.

What is known with certainty: classes will  not  resume in class for the rest of the school year (a school year is Sept. to July), per the president's orders during the speech on 13 April. The school, even though is a non-profit, not a public university, is still an institution of higher learning and must comply with the president's statement.

Car
Unknown: If you can travel two to a car now.

During confinement you were only permitted one person per car.

Exception: One additional person was permitted in the car if that person was unable to drive and you were their driver. This person unable to drive must sit in the backseat. Someone unable to drive is someone who does not have a driver's license, a child or someone who is sick and therefore needs to be driven.

HEC has deactivated the vehicle gates. To enter, you will now have to ring the inter-phone on the access gate to be permitted onto campus.

Penalties for Disobeying Rules
Some students have already been informed that they will be facing disciplinary action after the crisis is over. The penalties are as follows: warning not on your record, Warning that will be on your permanent record, partial expulsion, full expulsion. This may not follow a process of escalation - you could be expelled for the one mistake you are facing the board for. This is because you may have been seen violating the rules more than once, but you weren't officially stopped or told.

While it is obviously ok for you to normally walk around campus per the student guidelines, disobeying the rules provided during deconfinement will still be viewed as violating HEC instructions and may result in severe actions.

Technology
Only 44 people responded to the survey from the school regarding your Internet connection. About 1/2 of these 44 said they had no more issues. For the remaining, the school is looking to see if perhaps they can help you change your configuration issues on you computers to see if perhaps your settings can be/need to be changed. More info will come.

However, for the IT services to be able to best map out and identify what issues exist, please fill out the survey.

Facilities
S Building printers are moved to the lobby.

S Building rooms remain closed. They are looking for options to reopen the study rooms for individual use.

T is shutdown.

Financial Support
While the school is hearing the debate about refunds/discounts etc., if you have a pressing financial issue (your parents lost their jobs due to the crisis and you have to support them, you needed an internship to pay your bills during the summer etc.) that is real and legitimate, you can ask the school for help.

The school has created a scholarship program to make sure you're not in an impossible situation. Anyone has a chance at this so if you are not doing well financially and are at risk of not being able to buy your food or pay your bills, the school may be able to help.

Refunds
HEC blinked on the request for compensation for the loss of some experiences.

Initiatives
Student led initiatives can be found at Student Led Initiatives (COVID-19 Confinement).

Volunteers
Thank you to all of you who volunteered to help those under quarantine rules.

Visas and Titre de Séjour
All visas are being extended by 6 months automatically. So your original expiration date + 6 mos is your new expiration date '''if you expiration date date is between March 16 and May 15 2020. The automatic extension does not apply if your visa is to expire outside of these dates.'''

The prefecture will come to campus after May 11 to help with visas, as they originally were supposed to.

Visas for Exchange/Dual Degree Programs
Being studied by the school to address how to deal with you if you return to HEC instead of doing a dual degree or an Exchange. Issues will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

French Tax Requirements
Information can be found at https://portal.hec.fr/campus/en/services-on-campus/living-in-france/Pages/taxes.aspx

United States Taxes & Federal Aids (FAFSA and Post-9/11 GI Bill)
Cecile Marty is processing tax requests for those of you who asked for a 1098T. She does not have a scanner at home but will photograph the form for you to use. There is no EIN for the IRS because HEC is an non-for-profit school. She does not have one - when it comes to that part of the tax form... make a decision on how to proceed.

From Cecile:

"The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the legislation that waives the prohibition against distance education for students receiving U.S. Direct Loans for study at eligible non-U.S. institutions of higher education. Also included is the waiver to “written arrangements” regulations in order to allow students to take classes at U.S. institutions. Both waivers apply retroactive to 1 March 2020 and remain through the end of the COVID 19 emergency (as declared by government authorities in the country where the foreign institution is located) and for the following payment period (generally the following term). The bill number is H.R. 748.

Furthermore GI Bill funding remain available to veterans enrolled at eligible non-U.S. institutions."

Other
HEC Mail will now be at the S Building welcome desk in the interest of continuing to close more and more open spaces. 

Library books being returned. Librarians are working the process but no matter what, you're ok. There will be no issues with fines or anything like that. If you leave - you can leave your book at the S building reception.