December 7, 2020

To the Dartmouth community,

Now that the fall term has concluded, I'd like to thank everyone, and particularly our students, for your steady and consistent efforts in the face of very challenging circumstances. By following simple yet critical measures such as masking, regular testing, and physical distancing, our campus has been able to keep the number of COVID-19 infections very low, protect the health of the local community, and enable Dartmouth to keep our campus facilities open without interruption all term.

We have learned from these experiences, and we know through our observations and from comments from this community that there is room for improvement, particularly when it comes to delivering a more social experience for students outside of the classroom. We have heard suggestions from many, and we will announce the first set of adjustments we will make for winter term later this week, both in our Community Conversation webcast and subsequent communication. Before then, however, we have one important message to convey: the need to change the date of campus residential move-in for the undergraduate winter term (see the bulleted list below for details).

NEW WINTER TERM ARRIVAL DATES AND QUARANTINE REQUIREMENTS

Unfortunately, we have all observed increasing COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths across the country over the past several weeks, and national and state modeling predict a continued increase in virus transmission rates into the new year--including locally--exacerbated by a surge resulting from the upcoming holiday season. Therefore, we are changing the undergraduate winter term return-to-campus arrival dates.

While we expected some growth in community transmission through November, that growth has been more rapid and reached far higher levels than we had anticipated. In late October, when we announced that winter term would start on Jan. 7, there were approximately 55,000 new COVID-19 cases daily across the country, and the overall active case load in Grafton County was fewer than 400 cases per million people. There are now more than 200,000 new cases nationally each day, the current Grafton County active case count has reached more than 2,100 cases per million, and the full impact of the anticipated post-Thanksgiving surge is expected to materialize this week. Based on the increase in COVID-19 cases following the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday in October, and the growing number of cases in Grafton County, we must plan for a similar post-holiday surge in virus transmission. For the health of our campus and Upper Valley communities, we need to provide additional separation between the holidays and the return to campus residential living.

Our initial plans for winter term had undergraduates returning to campus on Jan. 5-6 with classes beginning on Jan. 7. However, we must now delay the return of undergraduates to campus until the weekend of Jan. 16-17. Students currently scheduled to move in on Jan. 5 will shift to Jan. 16, and students currently scheduled to move in on Jan. 6 will shift to Jan. 17. Additional details will be provided in emails from Dean of the College Kathryn Lively to students and families later today.

We know this is disappointing news and will require students to make changes to existing travel plans. We are sorry for the additional effort and challenge this will generate for many families, but given the surging rate of virus transmission, making room between the holiday break and the return to campus has become essential for navigating the winter residential term successfully.

Here is what you can expect:

*Classes will still begin on Jan. 7 and will initially be held remotely for all undergraduates.

*At-home pre-arrival tests for all returning undergraduate students will be conducted by Jan. 11 for students returning on Jan. 16 and by Jan. 12 for those returning on Jan. 17.

*In a shift from fall term operations, in accordance with the latest state guidance, all students will now be eligible to be released from quarantine after eight days if they receive negative virus tests. With this altered schedule, most undergraduates will be out of quarantine by Jan. 26. In-person meetings for those classes offering them will begin on or after Jan. 26.

*The end of term will remain the same, with classes ending on March 10 and exams completed by March 17.

*All undergraduates living off campus are strongly encouraged to delay their return to the region until Jan. 16 or 17; they will be required to initiate virus testing as soon as they return.

*These changes do not affect graduate or professional students.

*As previously announced, beginning in January, testing frequency will increase to twice per week for all students and for all employees who are regularly working on campus. Students will also be tested on their first day of arrival, whether approved for on-campus enrollment, living locally and learning remotely, or living locally on a leave-term.

*While we have been heartened by news of the imminent release of highly effective vaccines, until they have been widely distributed, we will need to maintain the measures that have kept our community healthy.

We know that some of you will have questions about this change. While we anticipate that many of them will be answered by Dean Lively's detailed message to students, we have established the email address winterterm2021@dartmouth.edu for inquiries. Staff are dedicated to responding within 24 hours this week to any messages received by 5 p.m. EST this Friday. In addition, Dean Lively will work with the COVID-19 student advisory board and Student Assembly leadership to develop additional FAQs as they arise and share them for the benefit of all.

I invite you to join me this Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 3:30 p.m., for our regular Community Conversations webcast, where we will speak more about our winter term operations with guests Dean Lively and COVID-19 Task Force co-chairs Lisa Adams and Josh Keniston.

Thank you for your flexibility and perseverance as we continue to build on the decision-making approach that made the fall term possible. The promise of vaccines provides hope for positive changes in the spring and summer months. Until then, we must remain united and stay the course.

Sincerely,