CULTURE KIT FAQ

  • What is a culture kit?

  • How much does it cost to reserve a culture kit?

Shipping both ways is on us, and FREE for you, if you live in NC! However, we encourage all local teachers (Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham) to pick up their kits.

  • Who can reserve a culture kit?

Any public, private, or home school educator in NC can reserve a kit. Community members, and students in NC can also reserve kits. We do not ship kits out of the state.

  • What level are culture kits designed for?

They are designed for K-14 educators and students. Kits are also great resources for University instructors to use with pre-service teachers. Not every item, in every kit, will be appropriate for the grade you teach. Please preview the kit, and determine which items are the best fit for your students.

  • Where do I make my kit request?

Please make all requests via our online booking page. We do not accept kit requests via phone or email.

  • How far in advance do you need to make a request?

Kits must be reserved at least 2 weeks in advance (Most years we get around 1,000 requests!)

  • How long can you keep a kit?

Kits can be reserved for periods of time between EXACTLY 3-4 weeks.

  • How many kits can you reserve each school year?

This semester, each school can borrow a maximum of 3 culture kits (until we reach our yearly budget limit). We encourage educators from the same school to coordinate with each other and nominate one educator to request kits that should be rotated among teachers at the same school.

We want as many different NC educators as possible to be able to use our resources to increase global education in their classrooms. However, we have quadrupled the number of kits we send out in the last four years, but our budget has not increased, so we may not have enough funding in our budget to accept all requests. Culture Kit reservations are first come, first serve, so we encourage you to make reservations as soon as possible! Thank you for being understanding and flexible as we try to accommodate as many schools as possible while staying within our budget.

  • When do you start accepting kit requests each school year?

We take Fall and Spring semester requests separately. We typically open up our booking page and begin accepting Fall semester requests each August and Spring semester requests in November. Sign up for our teacher newsletter to receive announcements about Culture Kit openings each semester.

  • How many kits can you reserve at the same time?

In Spring 2023, each school may request up to 3 Culture Kits during the semester, and we encourage you to reserve these kits during the same period.

  • How do you get your kit once it is ready?

You can either pick up your kit if you are local, or we can ship the kit via FedEx to you for free. We ask all teachers that live within 20-30 minutes of our office try to pick up their kits. 

  • How long does it take for kits to arrive via FedEx?

It can take 2-5 days for kits to ship via FedEx ground, however they typically arrive in 1-3 days.

  • How do you return a culture kit?

The Culture Kit lending system is undergoing important changes in the Fall 2022 semester. Culture Kits with back-to-back reservations will be sent from school to school. At the end of your reservation period, if another school has reserved the kit(s), you will be sent information to schedule an online meeting with a UNC Area Studies Intern to check the inventory and condition of your Culture Kit. After the inventory review session, you will be sent a shipping label to send the kit to the next school receiving it. If no other school has requested your kit, you will be sent a shipping label to send the kit(s) back to Carolina Navigators. Put the shipping label into the plastic shipping sleeve attached to the outside of the shipping box. Go to FedEx.com to find out the nearest FedEx drop-off location near you. Drop your kit off at FedEx. This should be done within the last 3 days of your kit reservation. Our return labels are designed for drop-off, so you can’t call FedEx to schedule a pick-up because they will ask you for our account number. If FedEx happens to be coming to your school anyways to pick up something else, they may do you a favor and pick up the kits, but please do not assume this will be the case.

  • If I realize I forgot to send an item back with the kit, what address do I send it back to?

Carolina Navigators

FedEx Global Education Center

301 Pittsboro St. Ste. 3115

Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-5145

  • What happens if I send my kit back late?

To ensure that our resources can be fairly shared among educators across the state, it’s important to ship Culture Kits in a timely manner at the end of their reservations. Educators and schools that show a history of tardiness may not be approved for future Culture Kit requests. Educators will also be penalized for tardiness according to our lending policy. We recommend marking the due date on your calender to plan accordingly and make sure your kit is returned on time.

  • What is the lending policy?

Lending Policies 
Materials are available free of charge (including return postage if materials are received by mail) and may be borrowed for 21-28 days. Materials not returned by the assigned due date will accrue fines of $0.50 per day to a maximum overdue fine of $15.00. Items still not returned 30 days after the due date will be assumed lost and borrowers will be charged a fine of $100.00. If the lost item is returned, the borrower will be charged only for the $15.00 overdue fine.

  • When are kits available and sent out?

Kits are sent out according to the UNC student calendar, as UNC student interns send kits out, and check them back in.

Kit Reservation Schedule 2022-2023

  • Fall 2022 reservations are available from 9/22/22-12/8/2022
  • Kits will not be sent out during UNC final exams or Winter Break
  • Spring 2023 reservations are available from 1/24/23-4/25/23

HOW TO REQUEST A KIT

  • LOG IN every time you make a request (and to create a FREE account) so that you can easily keep track of all your requests.
  • There is an email verification step when you create an account, so you must check your email to verify, before you can log in the first time.
  • Once logged in, go to “profile” to enter your “saved information” to avoid re-entering your school information every time you request a kit.
  • What do I do if I’m having trouble logging in to my CheckFront account?

First try to click on “I forgot my password” to retrieve your password. If you are still having trouble, then please send a short message to CheckFront at https://www.checkfront.com/contact. Carolina Navigators does not have access to your password.

  • Click on “AVAILABILITY” near the kit you would like, even if it says “UNAVAILABLE”, to scroll through the calendar to find available dates. 
  • Please watch this video tutorial if it is your first time requesting a kit, or if you have any problems with the booking process. 
  • Please add our email addressees to your contacts so that our notifications to you don’t bounce-carolinanavigators@invoices.checkfront.com and navigators@unc.edu.

CULTURE KIT TIPS

  • Sign up for our newsletter so that you receive a notification each year when we start accepting kit requests in August, and when we add new kits to our site!
  • Make your requests as early as possible to get the best selection. Our kits book up fast!
  • Open up your kit box as soon as it arrives, to maximize the time you and your students have with the kit! After you have filled out the kit’s inventory, fill out this Google form to help us keep track of kit statuses and conditions.
  • Mark the Culture Kit due date on your calendar to ensure it is returned to us on time and to avoid tardiness penalties!
  • Use our global resources search feature to browse for videos, virtual presentations, photos stories, and inspirational posters to use along with kits, or on their own.