Photo by Lily Reavis ‘21 - With fall semester rapidly approaching, Mount Holyoke made initial semester schedule announcements this week.
By Kate Turner ’21 and Declan Langton ’22
News Editor and Managing Editor of Content
Mount Holyoke released new information about the timeline of fall semester operations in an email to the College community on Tuesday, June 16. The following day, Dean of Studies Director of Student Success Initiatives and Associate Professor of Psychology and Education Amber Douglas wrote to students with further information, including the College’s creation of a “Flexible Immersive Teaching” academic plan.
The June 16 email, co-written by Douglas, Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Shannon Gurek and Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall, said that the College is “planning to begin undergraduate classes on August 24, 2020,” and that in-class instruction will end for all enrolled students on Nov. 24, the beginning of Thanksgiving break. Courses will then continue “remotely, with exams ending December 14, 2020.”
The decision adds to the College’s plan to provide flexible immersive teaching “that will allow students to access curriculum from different locations as necessary,” according to Douglas. Given health concerns, the message explained, “many of our courses will only be offered in remote format.” Faculty teaching courses reliant on lab or performance work are “working to provide creative and engaging remote alternatives,” the message said.
Regarding students’ return to campus, the message stressed that “with health and safety top of mind, we do not expect to fill campus housing to full capacity in the coming semester,” reminding students that “a less dense campus is necessary to meet state and federal guidelines for physical distancing.”
Though full information is not yet available, the College seems to be proceeding with academic planning as if some students will return to campus.
“While we expect to offer a fun and engaging residential experience, we want to be upfront about the fact that it will be necessarily different from the usual on-campus experience,” the June 16 message said. “Protocols for personal protective equipment, testing, contact tracing and distancing will require everyone on campus to exercise personal responsibility and will mean that many aspects of campus life will be modified.”
The fall semester schedule will be finalized and published online on July 2, according to Douglas. Academic advising will take place July 6-10, and re-registration will occur from July 13-16, depending on class year.
More details about student eligibility for on-campus housing will be provided in early July.
In accordance with Massachusetts and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Phase 2 opening procedures, a select group of Mount Holyoke employees have returned to campus. According to the message, this currently includes “faculty who have research that cannot be conducted remotely” and “personnel who have a critical role in current College operations that can’t be easily accomplished remotely.”
These decisions have been made by the 17 Emergency Response Teams, including the Academic Planning Group responsible for proposing the module schedule system. According to the letter, these teams continue to evaluate the most current information in order to make plans for next semester, as well as the calendar for the spring semester, which remains “under consideration.”