Dear Colleagues,

I write to provide a brief update on contingency planning underway in the Office of the Dean of the Faculty with respect to how COVID-19 could affect our academic offerings. As you saw in Geoff Swift’s February 28 message to the Bates community, the college is fully engaged in planning to mitigate overall health risks of this novel virus, and the impact it might have on our operational continuity. In our office, we are specifically focused on the academic issues that may be of interest to faculty.

While we anticipate a smooth finish to our academic year, it is wise to prepare for potential disruptions. We are closely monitoring all developments, and will be proactively responding to conditions if they warrant action. As we think about the final weeks of the semester, I ask that you consider how your classes might be affected by changes in our ability to meet in person, to travel off campus, to deliver the last week or weeks of classes, or to schedule honors thesis defenses. If public health directives from the CDC should restrict travel, or you choose not to travel, our office will work with faculty to discuss options.

In addition, ILS has increased the number of Zoom licenses the college holds, and we have the computer bandwidth to support the widespread use of this resource. If this technology becomes a necessary means of delivering course content, we are prepared to help you implement a solution like Zoom. 

We ask that you also think about alternative ways students can complete the work of your courses, and how you or a colleague could deliver the content of your course should events make this necessary. This may be a worthwhile topic to discuss in a meeting of your academic unit, and our office is willing to help in any way we can. We encourage faculty to consider, if events warrant, being flexible with aspects of their courses (e.g., attendance and exam policies).

Bates continues to monitor this public health issue in close consultation with our clinical partners at Central Maine Medical Center and based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. While this is a rapidly evolving public health situation, it is important to reiterate that, according to the CDC, no cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Maine.

Please pay close attention to updates from the Senior Emergency Response Group, which will keep the Bates campus informed of any relevant information as it becomes available. I also encourage you to review the February 28 message, as it contained important information about off-campus study, college-sponsored travel, and overall prevention measures.

Please stay tuned for any messages on this topic.

Sincerely,

Malcolm S. Hill, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty