June 22, 2020
Dear Members of the Boston College Community:
As mentioned in our June 15 letter to the community, we are providing additional details on the University’s plans for resuming on-campus instruction beginning August 31. Planning efforts continue in order to help ensure a successful and safe start to the 2020-2021 academic year.
BC Office Occupancy Update
With the announcement from the Governor that the Commonwealth is entering Phase 2, Step 2 of the Reopening Massachusetts plan, offices are allowed, effective today, to increase their occupancy to 50%. However, employees who are able to work from home are encouraged to do so. According to the University’s Guide for Returning to the Workplace, decisions about staffing must be approved by the respective dean, vice president, or vice provost or their designee(s).
Teaching and Learning in the Fall Semester
Colleagues from across the University are focused on academic planning for a safe and successful fall term. Deans and faculty are working together in all eight schools and colleges to plan for our full curriculum this coming semester. The Center for Teaching Excellence has organized an extensive summer program of ongoing training to prepare all instructors for a wide range of modalities and pedagogical approaches. The Center for Digital Innovation in Learning is working with faculty to fuse best practices for asynchronous learning with Boston College’s unique approach to formative education. Partners in Information Technology Services and University Libraries are collaborating with all schools to ensure that materials, software, and hardware needed for high-quality teaching and learning are on hand and available for use by faculty and students. For example, the University is adding cameras and audio recording equipment to an additional 54 classrooms this summer, bringing to nearly 100 the total number of instructional spaces equipped to record and broadcast lectures. Colleagues across campus are working during the next two months to ensure that classrooms and the campus as a whole are prepared for the start of classes in late August. We expect to finalize revised classroom assignments in July. Additional information about classroom capacity and the daily class schedule will be shared in the coming weeks, along with other details of our academic plans.
Residence Life
The University’s plan for residence halls will treat each shared living area as a “family unit.” Members of these family units will be encouraged to physically distance as much as possible in their shared living spaces; however, they will not be required to wear masks or face coverings while they are in their room, apartment, or suite.
In order to support de-densification efforts in the residence halls, the University will not be housing three people in rooms designed as traditional doubles (e.g., “forced triples”) as has been the case in previous years for some incoming first-year students. Further, capacity in lounge and study areas, as well as other common spaces, will be reduced and there will be stricter visitation and guest policies within each residence hall.
In conjunction with physical distancing and personal hygiene strategies, the Office of Residential Life and University Custodial Services will employ a consistent, thorough, and deliberate cleaning process to help minimize the potential spread of the virus. Traditional residence halls with shared multi-person common bathrooms will be cleaned multiple times a day, as will public common area spaces in all of our residence halls.
The University is finalizing details of its plan for quarantine and isolation housing to support students who may test positive for COVID-19, or who may have come in close contact with someone who has. Students will be expected to follow the University’s requirements regarding personal behavior and responsibility, as well as quarantine and isolation.
The University has identified additional beds in close proximity to the BC campus that will be available for students who were planning to participate in study abroad in the fall but are no longer able to do so given program cancelations.
In order to accommodate enhanced physical distancing during move-in, the University is planning to extend the move-in period, stagger times for students moving into each residence hall, and use an appointment system to assign move-in times. The University will limit the number of people helping students move in and encourage students to limit the items that they are bringing to campus this semester.
Additional details on room assignments and move-in will be made available in the days to come, and parents and students are encouraged to monitor the Office of Residential Life website and the Reopening BC website for updates related to living on campus.
Vice President for Student Affairs Joy Moore and her team will be issuing periodic communications to students and parents that will provide additional details concerning residence life and other student matters.
We appreciate your patience and support as the University diligently continues with its planning efforts.
Sincerely,
