Dear Undergraduate Students,

We hope that you enjoyed a wonderful Convocation, and that you are looking forward to the start of classes. In preparation for the first day of the semester, we wanted to share three quick pieces of advice:

1. Prepare for in-person classes: Please mask up, and give yourself and others time and space to move around campus. More students will shop classes than will ultimately enroll, and this means that more people will be moving through academic buildings during shopping period. Please move expeditiously into and out of buildings when classes start and conclude, e.g., by shifting post-class conversations with classmates and instructors outside. In addition, please listen for and respect requests from your instructors. For example, during shopping period, your instructors may ask students on the waitlist to leave the classroom if attendance exceeds the designated capacity, or they may ask the class to reserve seats for those who are already registered, before remaining seats are offered to other students. 

2. Explore classes in Courses@Brown and Canvas: Even before shopping a course, please make sure to check out course syllabi on Courses@Brown and browse class websites on Canvas. Within minutes of adding a course to your primary cart, you will automatically gain access to any course sites that are already published on Canvas. Reviewing syllabi in Courses@Brown and course materials in Canvas are great ways to explore course options even before the semester begins; many course sites are being updated and published each day.

3. Reach out if you need support: Please proactively contact your instructors if you are unable to attend class, e.g., due to modified quarantine or observance of religious holidays. As in past years, we know that students may be absent from class for a variety of health and personal reasons. Instructors teaching in-person courses have been asked to support students with excused absences as they normally would. Deans in both the College and Student Support Services may provide deans' notes on behalf of students with specific personal or health circumstances that hinder their ability to complete academic work. Please know that instructors may also provide support for student absences without deans’ notes. 

If you have any questions at all, academic advising deans in the College are holding appointments (both in-person and virtually) as well as virtual drop-in hours. You can visit the College’s website for more information about how to meet with an advising dean during shopping period.

Sincerely, and with best wishes for the start of the fall semester,

Rashid Zia
Dean of the College