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PARENTs & Families NEWSLETTER

October 21, 2020

Dear Parents and Families,

We hope your fall is off to a terrific start. Engaging in social activities and student organizations has always been an important part of the Tufts experience. In this issue we highlight some of the many initiatives that are enabling both in person and remote students to participate in programs and to connect with one another.

What's Happening at Tufts

Three female students sitting on the lawn with bottles of dye

Cohorts of students participated in an outdoor, socially-distant tie-dye activity

Campus life has been challenging this semester, but Tufts has been finding creative ways to offer students fun activities. "In a normal, non-pandemic year, TUSC puts on more than 200 events a year, and especially this semester, we’re committed to making sure that we still provide events for both students who are on campus and virtual students," said Saherish Surani, Co-Executive Coordinator of the student-run Tufts University Social Collective. "We want to make sure that we’re following all guidelines and providing an outlet for students to have somewhere to go or something to do when everything else is a bit more limited."

TUSC Co-Executive Coordinator Cara Dufresne added that they’re trying to tackle Zoom fatigue by "making sure our events are a mix of passive but also very engaging so students don’t feel too overwhelmed with too much screen time." Their activities are also designed to be safe and substance-free social options. Events range from virtual "murder mystery" nights and escape rooms to in-person grab-and-go stations like Fall Harvest, where students can pick up free fall drinks and cider doughnuts.

There will be a full lineup of Halloween activities, such as pumpkin painting and virtual movies where students can pick up a snack kit in advance. Resident Assistants (RAs) have been working hard to host activities in the residence halls related to the election, self-care, and more, as well as small social gatherings like dinners. Tufts is working on additional programming options for the colder weather and Thanksgiving break.

Students can find out about things to do in the Jumbo Digest newsletter that they receive each Sunday, as well as on JumboLife, "a brand-new student engagement platform that all of our 350 student organizations are operating from," said Joe Golia, Director of the Office of Campus Life (OCL). The platform allows groups to post events that are visible just to their own members or to all students. TUSC has been scanning student IDs at events and using JumboLife for contact tracing. OCL also implemented Remo, an online fair platform that was used to host a virtual student organizations fair.

TUSC welcomes feedback and invites students to join their team. Nadia Vargas, Associate Director of Residential Education, encourages first-year students to use their newly elected hall councils as a resource, as well. "If students aren't seeing something they're interested in or they have their own ideas that they would like to execute, there's a structure in place to share those ideas and be a part of making them come to life," she said.

Watch the Virtual Parents and Family Program

Two thousand Tufts parents and families enjoyed a virtual Parents and Family Weekend Program on the afternoon of Saturday, October 17. "Experiencing Tufts Today: A Virtual Parents and Family Program" offered Jumbo families a glimpse of life on and off the Tufts campus this fall. A recording of the program is now available on the Parents Giving Program webpage.

Watch the video

What's Happening Academically?

As midterms begin, students should utilize academic resources like the StAAR Center for support. They should also review the Academic Calendar, which lists deadlines related to registration, holidays, and final exams. All academic deadlines are firm!

If your student is too ill to attend class virtually or in-person, they should fill out the Short-Term Illness notification form found in SIS under Student Living (WebCenter) and follow up with the instructor directly regarding missed work. If students are ill on the day of an exam, they should refer to their course syllabus for the missed exam policy and contact their instructor in advance of the exam. Due to COVID-19 precautions, Health Service will not see on-campus students on a walk-in basis, so they will not provide medical excuse notes for illness on the day of an exam. If students have medical documentation from an outside provider, they should submit that to their Advising Dean who can let the instructor know the student is ill.

Per the Thanksgiving travel policy, students who travel for Thanksgiving break cannot return to campus and must finish the semester remotely. Students should plan Thanksgiving travel in consultation with faculty to ensure that they can complete their courses remotely. Students
should also review their syllabi for exam schedules prior to booking end of the semester travel. Finals cannot be re-arranged due to travel conflicts.

Missed the 2020 Orientation Meet the Advising Deans Parent and Family Session? Watch it here!

Dates to Remember

October 23 – Spring 2021 course modalities posted on department or school webpages

October 30 – Spring 2021 Intent Form due

November 2 – Spring 2021 courses posted on SIS

Novenber 2 – Advising Period begins

November 11 – Veteran's Day (University Holiday) No Classes

November 13 – Advising Period ends

November 16 – Graduate Students, Post-bacs, Diploma students, all Engineers, LA Seniors (including BFA), SMFA and NEC Combined-Degree students register for spring 2021 courses

November 17 – LA Juniors (including BFA) register for spring 2021 courses

November 17 – Last Day for Undergraduate AS&E students to WITHDRAW from Courses. Through this date, Undergraduate First-Year Students may DROP Courses without Record of Enrollment; all others receive a Grade of W upon withdrawing after the 5-week drop deadline.

Encourage your students to visit JumboLife

Join the Tufts Parents Facebook Group

@TuftsStdntLife

go.tufts.edu/parents

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