Dear Brown University Colleagues,

We hope all is well with you and your loved ones. We write to follow up on President Paxson’s letter explaining that Brown will take a phased approach to bringing students back for the fall semester, given the evolving public health conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first phase of the fall term, all undergraduate courses will be taught fully online September 9 until the week of October 5, and only a limited number of undergraduates will be permitted to return and have access to campus beginning at the end of August. Graduate, medical and other professional education programs will begin as planned in the fall semester, and courses will be offered through in-person, hybrid, and online instruction depending on the program. These graduate and professional programs will communicate directly with their students and instructors.

Undergraduate students enrolled for the fall who don’t receive permission to come to campus in the first phase of the fall term will be invited to come to campus in a second phase that will begin in late September, provided the public health situation improves. Note that we continue to plan for first-year undergraduate students to enroll at Brown beginning in the spring term.

This letter outlines how these modifications to plans for the fall term affect faculty and staff in the work we continue to do to advance education and research, and the ways in which we all will support the health and safety of our community.

Being on campus this fall will be a different experience. We expect that some undergraduate students will petition Residential Life for campus housing, as was the case in the spring. However, the phased approach to bringing students back to campus greatly reduces the number of students expected to be in residence halls at the beginning of the first term of the three-semester model announced July 7. Students living on campus, as well as those living in Providence, will be expected to adhere to all safety protocols, participate in the University’s COVID-19 testing and contact tracing program, and sign a commitment statement that makes clear the guidelines required for the fall and acknowledges consequences for any violations.

We want to thank you for all of the hard work and planning that has taken place over the last few months, which has allowed the necessary flexibility to modify plans in the interest of health and safety. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have stated consistently that we would be guided by public health expertise and data in our decision-making. We will continue to do so moving forward. The intense and comprehensive preparation for the fall has positioned the University to be able to respond in a timely way and to offer exceptional educational opportunities to undergraduate, graduate and medical students, regardless of the mode of delivery.

What follows is information and resources to guide faculty and staff during this period.

Teaching, Research, Programming & Travel

Courses/Access to Classrooms: Since instructors were asked at the beginning of the summer to ensure that all courses offered in the fall be available online to accommodate students studying and/or faculty teaching remotely, we are well prepared to move all undergraduate courses fully online as we begin the semester. Instructors who had planned to teach from a campus classroom and who still wish to do so may continue to plan to come to campus during this period in order to access facilities for instruction, including for virtual lectures, discussion sections or to record lectures. Courses with a designated time should be held as scheduled, as should sections that were to meet in person, and which will now be online. Students living on or near campus may not attend these courses in person. Instructors of courses for graduate and medical students may continue to meet in person as planned, adhering to health and safety guidelines.

Support for Teaching and Learning: Programs offered by the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and Digital Learning & Design (DLD) have been well attended over the summer. Staff from these units will reach out to faculty who are currently listed as teaching in hybrid format, but who have not yet had an opportunity to engage in the Anchor Course Design Institute or a 1:1 consultation with a member of these teams. There are substantial resources available to support online teaching and learning. For additional support, please contact DLD@brown.edu and/or Sheridan_Center@brown.edu.

Course Materials: The Library and the University Bookstore are working together to ensure students and faculty have digital access to course materials through Canvas for the start of the school year. For library reserves, please continue to use OCRA, which will ensure digital copies are added to your Canvas course. The Brown Bookstore will be shipping texts to students and working with the Library to have September's required readings scanned and added to Canvas to provide academic continuity.

Library: Planning is underway for the safe use of Library facilities when the semester begins in September. Until then, the University Library will continue to work with faculty to identify materials for fall courses and to make resources available online for remote instruction. Information on current services is available here.  More information will be made available in the coming weeks and will be posted on the Library's website and the Healthy Brown website.

Laboratory & Performance Courses/Lab Research: The decision to deliver courses exclusively online for the initial part of the fall semester will make it impossible to offer in-person instructional labs and studio and performance courses. Instructors are encouraged to make use of Sheridan Center experiential learning resources. Until further notice, laboratory research will continue under existing the Resuming Work in Research Facilities Principles & Procedures: Stage 2.

Programming and Events: The expectation in the fall is that events and programming will be offered virtually. Any small gatherings planned on-site must follow University safety protocols and Rhode Island Department of Health guidelines in terms of numbers of individuals permitted, social distancing, use of face coverings etc. For questions, please contact universityevents@brown.edu.

Travel: Continued domestic and international restrictions are in place for the fall semester. Please review this recently updated travel policy for detailed information.

Healthy Campus & Workplace

While undergraduate courses will be offered exclusively online in the beginning of the fall semester, we are continuing with the de-densified three semester model as planned — only more de-densified — and there will still be faculty, students and staff living, working, studying and conducting research in University locations.

For students who are permitted to live on campus, there will still be a process for moving in safely, COVID-19 testing, and for a Quiet Period from the time of arrival through Tuesday, September 15. We will also continue routine COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, promote a health and educational awareness campaign, and ensure the cleanliness of University facilities.  A new program of Healthy Ambassadors will help to promote adherence to public health protocols. To ensure the safety and wellness of our community, all students, faculty and staff must follow the COVID-19 Campus Safety Policy, which has been expanded from the original COVID-19 Workplace Safety Policy to encompass all teaching, research, learning, work and other activities that are authorized to take place on campus.

COVID-19 Testing: COVID-19 testing is mandatory for all Brown community members who are authorized to be regularly on campus (testing costs will be paid by Brown). Testing frequency is based on factors such as expected time on campus and level of interaction with faculty, students and staff, which can be reviewed on the Testing & Tracing section of the Healthy Brown website. Testing will begin the week of August 24 in the OMAC (Olney Margolies Athletic Center) where there is ample space to accommodate the large number of students and employees who will need to be tested. All Brown community members who are authorized to be on campus and therefore subject to mandatory testing will receive information about how to enroll and schedule their baseline test, and further tests thereafter. Brown’s testing program may continue to evolve in alignment with shifts in public health guidance.

Quiet Period: A quiet period is expected for all Brown students living on campus who travel to Providence, regardless of geographical point of departure. Students will be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival and again within their first week in Providence. During the quiet period, students will be required to follow a rigorous set of protocols for face coverings and distancing, including for meals. The second week of the quiet period (September 9-15) will be the first week of online instruction and shopping period. Students living off campus are required to quarantine based on guidance from RIDOH, and remain off campus with no access to campus buildings including residence halls during the 14-day quiet period on campus. Essential services, such as health services, can still be accessed by appointment during this time.

Facilities/Cleaning Protocols: Facilities Management has developed a detailed plan for the reopening of the academic year, which includes enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols, building preparation, water and air quality assessments and modifications and detailed signage and space configuration. This plan along with additional resources is available here.

Campus Services: As the fall semester begins, faculty and staff may access meals on a grab-and-go basis at the Blue Room in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center. The Brown Faculty Club will continue to offer the Brown to Table curbside pickup program to Faculty Club members. Safety guidelines must be followed when visiting dining locations. Shuttle bus services are also available for employees and students on campus. As a reminder, passengers who use shuttle bus services must abide by health protocols to ride safely. Additional information can be accessed on the Transportation and Parking Services website.

Staffing and Employment

Staffing & Planning: We recognize that the modified plan for the fall term may affect planning being done across departments and units to determine which employees are able to work remotely to fulfill their responsibilities, and those who may need to be on-site regularly or occasionally. The goal remains to reduce in-person campus operations as much as possible. If you have not yet submitted a work plan that includes on-campus and remote staffing needs, please review the Return to Campus Plans and Guidelines web page. If plans need revising, please submit an addendum with any necessary adjustment to the relevant committee listed on the page. Department leaders should continue follow these guidelines in managing schedules with their employees based on the nature of their job assignments.

Student Employment: As a community, Brown values the many contributions of students who engage in work opportunities across campus. Since moving to reduced in-person campus operations in mid-March, many undergraduate students continued to work remotely. In the fall, we expect departments will continue to hire students to work remotely, and that a limited number of departments may even need undergraduate students to work on-site. All on-site student positions must be approved through a Return to Campus Plan in advance of posting. Our goal, however, remains that in-person campus operations are reduced as much as possible for the health and safety of the entire Brown community.

Thank you again for all that you do for Brown. We appreciate that this has been an especially challenging period, with planning taking place in an uncertain and dynamic environment. We are grateful for your substantial contributions to this work, and for your continued commitment to Brown.

Sincerely,

Richard M. Locke, Provost
Barbara Chernow, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration