[bioundgrd] update on coronavirus and grad policies

[Alan D Grossman]

Dear All,

The situation respect to coronavirus and the steps MIT is taking are rapidly evolving.  I participate in a daily Zoom conference call with >50 participants to hear about updates. There is a group of very thoughtful and dedicated people at the Institute working incredibly hard to develop plans and policies.

The overarching concerns are related to public health and minimizing the spread of COVID-19, and to reduce risk of exposure for people in high-risk groups.  There is relatively little risk to our students (unless there are serious underlying health issues) in terms of severity of illness if they were to become infected.  Again, the main risk is in the rapid spread of the virus through the broader population, the more severe illness for those at higher risk, and the subsequent taxing of the health care system. The risk of serious illness is quite low for our student population (and most who are under 60 years old).  

MIT’s evolving policies are largely aimed at reducing the spread of the virus.  The major focus is on decreasing the density of people in various venues (social distancing).  Hence, moving undergraduates out of dorms (“dorms are like cruise ships”), eliminating seminars, etc.  

An example of how rapidly things change; as of yesterday morning, the plan was to move graduate students out of dorms.  Based on input from some of us, that was abandoned and there is a different plan to enable graduate students to stay on campus, but to reduce population density in other ways (as outlined in President Reif’s letter from yesterday).

What is clear:  ALL subjects must be taught online, both graduate and undergraduate.  This will impact our faculty and TA’s, not to mention the students actually taking classes. There will be more guidance in the coming week for how to make this transition.

As of now, there are NO requirements about labs and the research enterprise.  That said, there are recommendations that are aimed at reducing population density in labs, “social distancing”.  This includes encouraging those who can to work remotely.  If you are doing a lot of computational work, writing, reading, studying, this seems like a reasonable option. If you are doing experiments, working remotely is not an option.  There is no requirement to work remotely, and I suspect that decision along these lines will be done on a departmental and lab-specific basis.  I suspect that there will be more about this in the coming weeks. 

We are collecting suggestions for social distancing in the lab setting.  Thoughts/options include: staggered work times; lab meetings online, perhaps using Zoom.  I believe that MIT will have a Zoom site license in the coming week or so.  If you have other suggestions, please feel free to send to me.

As a department, we will also temporarily STOP having thesis defense seminars.  We will continue with the defense committee meeting, but there is always the option for people to do this remotely if desired.  Defending students should present their ‘seminar’ to the committee.  There is also the option to live-stream the talk via Zoom, which also enables people to ask questions.  Currently, the decision whether or not to do make the seminar public (live stream) is left to the student and faculty member.  

When we do have in person meetings, we will have these in large rooms so people can spread out, thereby reducing the density and chance of spread of coronavirus (and other communicable diseases).  

This is a very stressful time for many. There are many uncertainties and the situation and policies are rapidly evolving.  By taking steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are contributing to public health and safety, and helping to protect those in our community who are at higher risk for serious illness.  I appreciate everyones understanding, help, and flexibility as we get through this challenging time.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions, comments, or concerns.

Alan


Alan D. Grossman
Professor and Head
Department of Biology
Building 68-530
M.I.T.
Cambridge, MA   02139

(617) 253-1515
adg at mit.edu