Dear Brown Families,

We hope this message finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe during this unprecedented time. As you know, President Christina Paxson announced earlier today that Brown’s academic operations this year will include a three-term academic model with a combination of in-person and remote learning. 

The safety and wellbeing of our community is the University’s top priority, and this model will allow Brown to operate with “distancing” and other public health protocols in place designed to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on campus. All returning students will have the option to attend Brown remotely this fall while first-year students will be invited to join us on campus in the spring. 

We are writing to share with you a link to our communications to new and returning undergraduate students as a follow-up to the President’s announcement. Over the coming weeks and months, our goal is to provide your student with comprehensive information, guidance and support so that they can make the best decisions for their circumstances. And it’s important to note that Brown’s planning is based on current public health guidance, and we’ll inform you of any shifts in operations as the University continues to closely monitor how the pandemic is evolving across the region and around the country.    

Depending on the status of your student, you may be interested in our communication to:

• Incoming first-year students
• Incoming transfer and Resume Undergraduate Education (RUE) students
• Returning students

We are here to help your student at every step of the way in the coming weeks. An essential part of our planning is preparation for extensive public education and training about how to keep our campus healthy. We hope to instill in our students the value of caring for their own health and the health of others as essential to maintaining the health of our community and the campus operations that support Brown’s education, research and operations.

We know you probably have questions, perhaps even some anxiety, and we will be hosting a series of webinars for you and your students to provide information, address concerns, and answer questions. 

In the interim, the best and most up-to-date information will be available on the Healthy Brown and the Undergraduate FAQ websites. Please continue to check these websites and encourage your students to monitor their Brown email account for updates as we approach the start of the fall term. 

We thank you for your patience as we continue to navigate the complexities of returning to in-person living and learning, and we look forward to seeing many of your students on campus this fall.

Sincerely,

Eric Estes
Vice President for Campus Life

Rashid Zia
Dean of the College