Dear Parents and Families,
The semester has just begun, and we are off to a great start. We thank you and your students for adapting to our new health and safety protocols. Please join us at our Town Hall on Friday to learn more about how operations on our Medford/Somerville and Boston campuses have been changed in response to the pandemic. See the sidebar to register and to submit a question.
What's New at Tufts Dining?
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Dining out looks a lot different now, and dining at Tufts is no exception. Tufts Dining has spent months tirelessly adapting to the new guidelines and protocols to present students with the safest and healthiest eating experience possible. “Colleges and universities are following the restaurant guidance for reopening in Massachusetts,” said Patti Klos, director of Tufts Dining. Protocols for staff include self-evaluating before coming to work, wearing gloves and face coverings, increased handwashing, and frequent cleaning and disinfecting of contact surfaces. In addition, Tufts is testing dining workers twice a week.
The team fast-tracked the creation of a new mobile app that is now used for all food purchases. Students can use the app to reserve a timeslot at either of the dining centers, Carmichael and Dewick-MacPhie. Students can also use their meal plans to order food on the app for pickup at any of the on-campus cafes. “We’re having some challenges with our software. We’re relying on it 100 percent, and we’re putting more of a load on this tool than most of our peer institutions. We have a learning curve,” Klos acknowledged. She added that allowing the meal plans to be used at the smaller cafes in addition to the dining centers has led to increased volume at the cafes, but she is confident that the challenges will get resolved. “The staff are wonderful. They work hard; they’re very dedicated. We all have had to learn some new methodologies,” Klos said.
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| Socialize Distantly in Colorful Chairs
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We took advantage of our beautiful Medford/Somerville campus and glorious fall weather and installed close to 175 colorful Adirondack chairs around the residential halls and dining centers. An additional eight chairs were placed around the SMFA campus. The chairs, spaced six feet apart, have been very popular among the Tufts community for socializing distantly and relaxing in fresh air.
Some fun facts:
- The chairs are made with recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), primarily from milk jugs (#2 plastics). An estimated eight recycled milk jugs went into each pound of the Adirondack Chairs for a total of about 400 milk jugs per chair.
- The recycled material can change again into another useful product when that day comes.
- The chairs are designed to weather all four seasons.
- The chairs are American-made in Duluth, MN.
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Career Corner: Conversations with the Tufts Career Center
Fall 2020 Overview of Career Resources and Opportunities
The Tufts Career Center offers extensive resources to help your student explore career options, gain skills and experience, build a professional network, and develop strategies for pursuing career goals. In Fall 2020, these will include virtual career education programs, comprehensive online tools, and individual career advising designed to help students at all stages of the career development process. For this semester, we will continue to offer most of our resources and services in a virtual format, and we are ready to support and encourage your student.
Here are just a few of the resources and opportunities coming in Fall 2020:
- Virtual career fairs and other events to help students meet employers and learn about jobs and internships
- Plenty of ways to connect with Tufts alumni for career advice, including The Herd, our online student-alumni mentoring platform
- An enhanced website coming later this fall, with career communities that will connect students with the resources they need to explore interests and potential opportunities
- Virtual Professionals-in-Residence, alumni volunteers who will join us throughout the year to speak with students about a variety of career fields in group sessions and 1-on-1s
- Career panel discussions and workshops, which will be recorded and added to our Career Center YouTube channel for later viewing on-demand
The Tufts Career Center is a lifelong resource for students and alumni.
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What's Happening Academically?
Meet the Advising Deans
One of the biggest transitions from high school to college is understanding how a parent’s/guardian’s role changes. As young adults, students will be expected to take charge of their education, which will be a different experience from high school. We encourage parents/guardians to coach students through their academic experience rather than manage it for them. If you have academic concerns about your student, we encourage you to reach out to their Advising Dean. While Advising Deans are happy to speak to parents, it is ultimately the student we need to speak with, so parents should encourage their students to contact their Advising Dean. While Advising Deans respect the role of parents/guardians in a college student’s success, and while we collaborate with parents/guardians, we encourage student-parent/guardian communication rather than staff-parent/guardian intervention.
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Dates to Remember
October 12 - Indigenous People's Day (University Holiday) Classes Held
October 13 - Last day for AS&E students (except first-year undergraduates) to DROP Courses without record of enrollment
October 17 - Virtual Parents and Family Weekend. Please see below.
October 20 - Last Day for AS&E Students to Make Up Incomplete Grades from Spring 2020
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October 17, 2020
1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT
We aren’t able to welcome you to campus this fall for our traditional Parents and Family Weekend, so in its place we’ve developed an exciting and informative virtual program for Tufts parents and families hosted by fellow Tufts parents Juju Chang, A23P, and Neal Shapiro, A80, A23P to experience life on campus today. More program information to come soon.
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