July 6, 2021

To the community,

For the past 16 months, the Dartmouth COVID-19 Task Force has played a critical lead role in asking important questions and planning our response to the pandemic. Now, following the very welcome announcement of reduced COVID-19 restrictions for the summer term, and with planning for fall well underway, we are ready to return to our normal decision-making processes.

Beginning Tuesday, July 6, the task force will no longer be asked to review and make recommendations for operating decisions. Regular processes in each division--decision-making processes that existed prior to the pandemic--will return. Decisions relating to final campus-wide restrictions or campus-wide operations, which are expected to be lifted by late August, will be managed by the offices of the provost and executive vice president.

Assuming that public health conditions continue to remain favorable, the task force will be disbanded over the course of this month, making sure that information is transferred to the appropriate units, and that any final pandemic-related communications are made. The task force email account will be closed on Aug. 1. Information on the Dartmouth Together website (https://covid.dartmouth.edu/) will be limited to essential institutional policies, and the COVID-19 dashboard will be updated twice a week instead of daily. We will continue to monitor the global response and, while we are hopeful about the path forward, we may restore parts of our task force should it be needed.

The members of our task force, led by co-chairs Lisa V. Adams and Josh Keniston, undertook an enormous challenge in addition to managing their regular responsibilities to help us respond effectively to the shifting pandemic landscape. Please join me in offering them our heartfelt thanks for their dedication, thoughtful decision-making, and sustained efforts on our behalf.

Sincerely,

Philip J. Hanlon '77

President