Faculty Update: Spring Break, Schools Abroad, Committees

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

Once again, we want to reiterate our appreciation for your willingness to pivot so quickly to new ways of teaching following spring break. We know that many faculty colleagues have been working overtime to reimagine their courses, and that this work will continue in the coming weeks. What we are dealing with is unprecedented for us, and we just wanted to acknowledge, again, the scale of the task in front of us all.

We write today with some very brief updates and a reminder about the upcoming spring break. 

First, the reminder: The next two weeks are now, officially, the spring break for our students. We should not expect students to turn in work or take exams during this break. Students have had to suddenly change plans, and some of them are still finalizing those plans. As disruptive as this last week has been for many of us, it has been even more difficult for many of our students, as they scramble to adjust.

In terms of updates, we want to let you know that Dean Carlos Vélez, his staff in International Programs, and our staff around the world have been working around the clock to manage the rapidly changing global environment and our Schools Abroad. Unfortunately, given the announcement last night of significant new travel restrictions, we have had to suspend our remaining programs in Europe. Now, in addition to Italy and China, our programs in France, Germany, Spain, Russia, and the U.K. have been suspended, as well. We have also suspended our programs in Japan, India, Morocco, and Jordan. Arrangements are being made for students to complete their coursework remotely wherever possible.

In addition, tomorrow we will have the first meeting of the ad hoc academic continuity group. We are compiling a list of issues that we will need to address (and that list keeps growing). If there are specific things you would like us to discuss, please send an email to provost@middlebury.edu. We will, of course, keep everyone updated with new developments.

We also thought you might appreciate reading messages that have gone out to other constituencies in our community. You can find them here.

Finally, we know that in the current circumstances, information travels quickly. Many of you have been in touch with us about specific questions—related particularly to concerns about students—and please do continue to send those. Please know, as well, that the information you receive might not always be complete, and that our staff are working day and night to resolve many student issues. We are in for some challenging days ahead, and we will get through them because of the incredible work that our staff are doing.

Best,

Jeff Cason

Provost

Sujata Moorti

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty