March 15, 2020
To the Campus Community,
As you know, we have moved our courses into remote learning mode starting March 23. I am writing to you now to let you know that we will maintain remote learning for the rest of the spring semester. There will be no on campus classes for the remainder of the academic year. Information on completion of clinical and lab-based courses will be forthcoming soon.
Please note: The university is not closing; rather, we are moving in-person classes online and most of our staff is working remotely (i.e., offices will provide services via web and phone) in order to reduce the density of people on campus and enhance social distancing.
For students, courses will resume in remote learning modality on Monday, March 23. Most courses can be accessed on Blackboard Learn, but please consult each of your professors to learn what their individual plans are for continuing instruction through remote modality. Advising, tutoring, disability services, U-ACCESS, The One Stop, almost all Healey Library services, and other services remain available, but offices should be contacted by phone, email, or Here4U instead of traveling to campus. Consult our list of FAQs for extensive information ranging from academics to technology to health and wellness.
Our residence halls will close. Students who are living in the Residence Hall will receive a direct communication from the Office of Housing and Residence Life shortly with instructions for moving out. We are working diligently to ensure that current residents have appropriate housing when the dorm closes.
While no decisions have been made regarding Commencement exercises in May, we also recognize that we will need to review its status in the weeks ahead.
During this period of online teaching and learning, we ask that you regularly check umb.edu/coronavirus for updates, and that you regularly check your email. THIS IS THE MAIN MEANS BY WHICH WE CAN COMMUNICATE WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR. We encourage you to reach out to your professors or advisors should you need assistance in a particular class or with a particular issue. We want nothing more than for you to succeed in your coursework, and we will work to provide the resources and support you need for a successful semester at UMass Boston.
For faculty and staff, we encourage you to visit the FAQs and remote learning sections of the UMass Boston coronavirus website. At this time, there is no change to our current plan for faculty and staff which I outlined on Friday.
The speed at which we have taken major steps to protect our campus community means that we have much work ahead of us. There are many details that need to be sorted out, and many questions that remain. I ask for your patience and understanding, and I promise that we will keep you and the entire campus community informed as we move forward.
I close by thanking you for your patience with this whole process. Needless to say, none of us has been through a pandemic before, and it may take some time before all of your questions can be answered. But we will get there. I know that because of the exceptional quality and dedication of the many people who have been planning, working through weekends, and connecting with our counterparts across the university system and the public health authorities. Our campus can be very proud of its ability to stand up in a crisis.
Sincerely,
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Interim Chancellor
Katherine Newman | |
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