If a member of a teaching assistant’s family or household becomes sick and a graduate student needs to take time off from assistantship duties to care for or grieve a loved one or to isolate themselves if a member of their household becomes ill, the graduate student should first discuss their situation and needs with their assistantship supervisor. The graduate student should also discuss their academic research and/or coursework concerns with their special committee chair (faculty advisor) who may not be the same person as the assistantship supervisor. If the graduate student and faculty member(s) are not able to reach agreement on appropriate arrangements for assistantship duties, coursework, and the student’s research activities, then they can bring others into the discussion to help reach a resolution. That includes several offices who stand ready to help, such as the faculty Director of Graduate Studies, the department chair, the college dean’s office, and the Graduate School.

Assistantship stipends will continue to be paid, however, if the time needed to be away from academic and assistantship activities is considerable (e.g., several months or more), the graduate student may need to take a health or personal leave of absence, at which point the assistantship stipend would not continue. Faculty and graduate fields are encouraged to be creative and accommodating when exploring possible options with graduate students, allowing remote work and learning whenever possible, and avoiding probing for any personal details about a student or their household members. All graduate fields and departments are aware that these sensitive issues exist and that the intention is to reach an acceptable resolution early in the process.

It is important that graduate assistants know they are not expected to absorb all the impacts of this exceptional fall semester by devoting more time to their assistantship duties. Cornell Policy 1.3 states that the standard appointment for a TA, RA or GA averages 15 hours per week, with no week exceeding 20 hours. This limit is important because graduate students still need to prioritize progress in their own degree programs and, for most international students, the 20 hour/week limit is the legal maximum allowed by their visa. If a graduate assistant’s duties do approach or exceed 20 hours/week they need to alert their supervisor and develop a plan for rebalancing their tasks. If resolution is not reached, elevate the concern to the faculty Director of Graduate Studies for the student’s field. 

While TAs are certainly on the front lines for supporting undergraduate students who are struggling in a course, solving mental health crises for undergraduates is not something that most TAs have the training or ability to take on. Instead, TAs should acknowledge their undergraduates’ circumstances and guide students in crisis to the range of support services that are available for that purpose. These include:

• Let’s Talk– Zoom drop-in consultations with a CAPS counselor, available to all students on Monday and Thursday afternoons.
• Individual Counseling– Zoom appointments available to students in the U.S. (with some restrictions, depending on your state of residence); phone consultation available to students outside the U.S. 
• Group Counseling– Counseling groups on a variety of topics, available by Zoom to students in the U.S.
• CAPS-Led Workshops– Skills-based workshops, available by Zoom to all students.
• Primary Care Medical Services– Telehealth appointments to support your health and well-being.
• Behavioral Health Consultation– Zoom appointments available to students in the U.S. (with some restrictions, depending on your state of residence).

In the event that a TA becomes ill or is asked to fill in for an ill colleague, that coverage should be coordinated through a supervisor so that duties still fall within the allowable weekly limits on hours.  If extended coverage is needed and it cannot be arranged within the standard 15 hours per week, on average, a department can make a supplemental appointment for a student to work up to a total of 20 hours/week on average, but with no week exceeding 20 hours. An additional stipend would be provided for these additional hours up to 20 hours/week maximum. Rates for supplemental and non-standard assistantship appointments are described on the Graduate School’s website.

As the Graduate School explained in communications to graduate faculty on July 9 and July 2, and to graduate students on July 14 and July 2, decisions about curriculum and pedagogy rest with the departments and faculty, not the Graduate School. Departments and faculty should be determining the teaching modality for Fall ’20 courses. That you have identified 18 examples of departments demonstrating this decision-making process is exactly what should be occurring. A department should make at least tentative assignments of graduate students to serve as TA for specific courses, then communicate with the TA about the intended modality for that TA assignment. This could be online, in person, or “either online or in person,” depending on the needs of the department. If the graduate student has any reason for wanting to TA only remotely, or if the department has indicated that the modality can be “either online or in person,” then the TA simply chooses to fulfill their assistantship assignment remotely. If, however, there is a mismatch between the modality the graduate student needs/prefers to teach in and the modality the department has identified as required, then this process pertains, as communicated earlier. 

As indicated above, many offices stand ready to assist a graduate student who has concerns. No one should ever feel forced to work in a campus environment that feels unsafe. If a graduate student feels coerced by a supervisor to come to campus for research or instruction, the student should express that concern to the faculty Director of Graduate Studies for their field or directly to the Graduate School (via Associate Dean Jan Allen). If the coercion concern is related to personal health, however, the most direct source of assistance and support is through Student Disability Services who will help the graduate student secure appropriate accommodations for assistantship duties, and for the graduate student’s own coursework and research/scholarship activities. As explained at a recent town hall by the director of Student Disability Services, they do not share personal health history information with faculty.

If there is concern related to laboratory or facilities safety issues, the graduate student should contact Environmental Health and Safety at AskEHS to report potential violations of safety policies, whether those are related to COVID-19 operating, or general laboratory safety, policies. In addition, graduate students should use the Cornell Hotline operated by EthicsPoint, an external vendor, which provides a simple and anonymous way to confidentially report activities that may involve improper conduct. EthicsPoint will contact the appropriate offices for confidential inquiries. Your name is never released by EthicsPoint to Cornell.  In addition, Student and Campus Life will soon implement and announce a behavioral compact reporting tool to report violations of health and safety requirements.

The Cornell University Student Behavioral Compact requires all students to adhere to a specific set of behaviors to protect the health and safety of others, including to practice appropriate physical distancing, inside and outside the classroom by: remaining at least six feet from others; wearing a face covering when in entering, and moving throughout, any university building; coughing or sneezing into elbows; washing hands frequently throughout the day for at least 20 seconds; and staying home if sick and requesting evaluation by Cornell Health if COVID-19 symptoms are present.

Students who enter a classroom who are not in compliance with requirements around face-coverings or who fail to adhere to physical distancing should be asked politely to don their face covering or create more space. If they fail to comply with these requests, they should be asked to leave the classroom. If the instructor determines that the class cannot continue due to a failure to observe university regulations, they should terminate instruction and report the incident to the Cornell Compact Compliance Team (CCCT), as described below.

Student and Campus Life is creating bystander intervention resources to provide support on how to engage individuals who are not complying with campus health and safety requirements. All graduate teaching assistants are encouraged to utilize these resources, and the time doing so will be considered as TA duties (i.e., within the 15 hours/week on average associated with the assistantship appointment).

Violations of the compact should be reported to the Cornell Compact Compliance Team (CCCT) through an online tool that is being created to report violations. CCCT will expeditiously make determinations on violations.

The university will be using an enhanced cleaning methodology that targets high-touch areas to reduce fomite spread of COVID-19 that will be performed on an ongoing basis. These procedures are further defined under Category 2 procedures in Cornell’s Environment Health and Safety COVID-19 Guidance for Facilities Management Staff. In between classes – like with our plans to reactivate research – faculty and teaching assistants are asked to clean the part of the classroom they use (e.g., lectern, computer, etc.) on the way in and on the way out. Students receiving classroom instruction will be asked to self-clean their desk and seating area. Building maintenance will provide cleaning supplies for these purposes. Cornell will provide face coverings to students and employees who are planning to be on campus. Contact your supervisor to secure a face covering.

It is important to distinguish between quarantine and isolation. Quarantine is for individuals who may have been exposed to coronavirus and, in New York state, individuals travelling into the state from areas with a high prevalence of the virus, while isolation is for individuals who have been infected with the virus. Instructors and Teaching Assistants, in communication with their TA supervisors, should develop a back-up plan in case they become ill and are required to go into isolation or are required to quarantine by the local health department. These back-up plans could include some combination of teaching remotely, having a colleague take over their course, switching to remote delivery (when teaching in-person courses), or having students work on assignments or projects in their absence. In all cases, TAs should work with their assistantship supervisor to develop a back-up plan in advance, at the beginning of the semester.

In the event someone becomes ill, the Tompkins County Health Department, as required by New York state law, is responsible for contact tracing to identify close contacts of infected individuals (“the index case”). TCHD will identify and notify all close contacts (an individual who has had contact less than six feet for more than fifteen minutes), give them instructions for quarantine, and monitor them for compliance with the instructions and to ensure that symptoms do not develop. This monitoring will occur daily for a length of time determined by the Health Department based on current NYSDOH and CDC guidelines. As an added layer of precaution, Cornell will be able to swiftly screen entire classes if an individual in the class tests positive.

Student bus access information and other transportation options can be found at Getting Around the Cornell Campus. Up-to-date parking options on campus can be found on the Transportation website; a Daily Decision option is being developed and will be posted soon that allows the purchase of as-needed daily parking. Additionally, TCAT has announced adjustments to service in response to COVID-19 and a decrease in ridership, including adopting a no-fare policy in effect through Sept. 5. Returning students will have the opportunity to purchase a discounted OmniRide bus pass beginning August 16. New-to-Cornell students matriculating in a degree program for the first time receive automatic, no-fee OmniRide bus pass privileges valid within their first academic year. TCAT’s website includes the most up-to-date information on routes and the precautions they are taking to protect riders.

A second Anterior Nares sample is being collected from some students on a voluntary basis during summer testing to support test validation for COVID-19 surveillance testing (approximately 30% of those coming through the testing site have provided both samples). Students who are asked – and volunteer – to provide a second sample to Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) sign a waiver that releases non-identifiable information to Cornell. Only CMC holds patient protected data. Sample collections are not being used for any research purposes, only for COVID-19 surveillance. If, in the future, there is any interest in utilizing surveillance samples for research purposes, IRB approval will be required, and those individuals from whom samples are being collected will have to provide informed consent.

We are currently working to provide alternate testing options such as self -sampling with easy drop-off or pick up from remote locations to address this concern. Further information will be shared in the coming weeks. This will not obviate the need for students to complete their arrival test via the Re-entry Checklist as this testing is necessary to determine our baseline prevalence and to ensure that students re-entering the Cornell community have tested negative.

See above. We are also working to identify surveillance or drop off sites (5-6 site locations) that are within walking distance to serve students living in Collegetown and other areas close to campus.

As detailed in the plan submitted to New York state (see pgs. 14-15), faculty, staff and students residing off-campus will be asked to quarantine at home.

For infected individuals (those who test positive) and to the degree possible, Cornell will contract with area hotels for isolation space rather than set aside on-campus housing for our residential students, given that our need for isolation and quarantine space will not be fixed over the course of the academic year. Off-campus isolation also allows for more separation of infected and potentially infected individuals from other students on campus.

Student and Campus Life will provide all students with a welcome package that contains a thermometer, two face coverings and hand sanitizer. Graduate students will received additional face coverings to fulfill their assistantship duties. These supplies are being and will continue to be provided by academic units.

There are a series of gating mechanisms that have been created and that students must complete as part of their Re-entry Checklist, including testing upon arrival. Scheduling and completing the arrival test is a required prior to enrolling in courses. Validation that students have completed testing as required by the Re-entry Checklist will be monitored through the application by Cayuga Health System and Cornell. These same validation processes will be in force for ensuring compliance with on-going surveillance testing throughout the semester. If a student is found to not have completed a surveillance test during the semester, their non-compliance will be considered a violation of the Cornell Behavioral Compact and be subject to progressive sanctions.

An updated program with broadened eligibility will be announced and posted on July 31, thanks to careful analysis and advocacy from Global Learning/International Services and the Graduate School.  When the campus closed to non-essential services and classes moved to online instruction for spring and summer 2020, some students chose to leave the Ithaca area to be with family or return to their home communities.  Cornell is a US-based entity and is generally unable to sponsor work authorization in other countries. The University therefore normally expects and requires that students on TA, RA, GRA, or GA appointments be on campus or performing duties at an approved US location.   During the COVID-19 disruptions, however, the University has developed a framework for allowing qualified continuing students to proceed with anticipated summer and/or fall assistantship appointments if they are temporarily stranded outside the US due to government-imposed travel restrictions or would experience a significant hardship by returning to the US at the start of the fall term to begin their planned assistantship. The summary of the updated exception policy is posted online, including updated eligibility criteria.

Cornell’s overriding goal is to provide a safe environment in which to facilitate every student continuing their studies this fall. For all funded graduate students, there are processes in place to request accommodations if a remote assignment is needed for health or medical concerns. There are processes in place for all students to request remote assistantship assignments for other personal reasons as well. In addition, the Graduate School is offering flexibility on the timing of Dean’s Excellence and Sage fellowships for students who need to adjust their planned fall funding. Some assistantship duties, such as those that rely on laboratory facilities, are less conducive to remote work arrangements but students who wish to avoid coming onto campus are encouraged to speak with their supervisor about alternative assignments and the steps being taken to ensure the safety of students in campus facilities, or, if the student’s personal health is of concern, contact Student Disability Services to help with accommodations. No one, including international students, should ever feel forced to work in a campus environment that feels unsafe.

Students who are required to quarantine or isolate will keep their assistantships with no break in funding or registration status. Students who need to leave the U.S. for a family emergency should coordinate with their supervisor, the Graduate School, and International Services to identify the best options.

The Committee on Teaching Reactivation’s Subcommittee on Teaching and Social Distancing conducted a survey of graduate and professional students that included questions related to students’ well-being, physical and mental health. The results of this survey were considered in the committee’s recommendations (see Appendix 16) to address, in particular, the mental health concerns of students, including international students. Specifically, students will continue to have access to Cornell Health’s 24/7 phone support (nurse advice and mental health support) as well as direct support from Cornell Health including self-care advice, virtual Let’s Talk through CAPS, referral support, and educational workshops.

With respect to the ability of international students to take all of their classes online, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently rescinded its guidance limiting the ability of new international students to pursue an entirely online semester and maintain their immigration status. The rescission of this order means that continuing students (students who were enrolled in March 2020 or who already have active SEVIS status) are allowed to take all of their classes online this fall whether in the U.S. or abroad and maintain their F-1 status. New students (those who were not enrolled in March 2020 and require a new SEVIS record) are not allowed to take 100% of their classes online if they are in the U.S. and so must enroll in at least one in-person or hybrid class. For more information, please see the FAQ on the International Services page or contact an International Services advisor.

The Re-entry Checklist does not distinguish between graduate students who may be permanent residents of Ithaca and those who may be arriving to Ithaca for the fall semester because the information we are collecting is important across all student groups and for scheduling the initial student “arrival” test. After being asked where they plan to live during the fall 2020 term, those who indicate they will be in the Ithaca area are asked if they are already here. If they aren’t already here, then they are asked about when they plan to arrive. Those who are already here are encouraged to schedule their arrival test now and those arriving soon are required to schedule the test when they arrive and before they may enroll. Whether or not a student is just arriving or has been here since last semester, it’s important to begin and maintain the health and safety of our campus that everyone be tested. Even if Ithaca is one’s primary residence, many have traveled out of the Ithaca area (even if only for day or weekend trips, though often for longer) to visit family, etc., and some have of course also had people visit them from out of town. Thus, while the risks of importing the virus may be higher among students who are returning now to Ithaca after having been away, they are not limited to those students. The most prudent approach is for us to assume anyone could have been exposed to the virus and include all students in our pre-term testing program.

As shared in the C-TRO report, an early warning dashboard is being established to monitor and report viral transmission in the greater Tompkins County community to inform decisions about the university’s operating status. Metrics include data points from Cayuga Health System and the Tompkins County Department of Health, such as numbers of individuals tested, numbers of positive cases, and number of hospitalizations. We are currently working with Cayuga Health Systems and the Health Department to reach agreement on data that we can publish on the university’s COVID website. Our shut down plans are detailed in the university’s submission to the New York State Department of Health (see: Shutdown of in-person operations of the campus, if necessitated by widespread COVID-19 transmission) and includes phased reductions in services at heighted alert levels to a full shutdown if ordered by the local health department and/or state.

The Committee on Teaching Reactivation Options (C-TRO) administered two brief surveys through the Office of Institutional Research and with the consent of the Graduate School. Given the breadth of the committee’s charge and its tight deadlines, there was insufficient time to pre-test the surveys with any students, whether undergraduate, graduate or professional. Cornell’s decisions and plans for reactivation were not based on assumptions around categories of students (e.g., undergraduate, graduate or professional) or whether or not they had a permanent residence outside of Ithaca. Forward looking, and per standard practice, the Graduate School will be engaged in any future surveys to understand the specific needs of graduate and professional students.