On June 30, Cornell announced plans for the fall 2020 semester, which includes a hybrid approach to a residential semester, robust virus testing, and modifications to the academic calendar. More information can be found in the Cornell University Reactivation Plan.

Cornell University, Cayuga Medical Center, and the Tompkins County Health Department responded to questions from Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, which can be found on the Ithaca Times website in the PDF linked at the top of the page, “Cornell, Tompkins County Responses to Lifton Questions“.

No, according to Prof. Frazier who developed the model, the conclusions suggested by the model do not change.

The model compares two scenarios: one in which Cornell does not open but approximately 60% of the students are in Ithaca (whether they were here all year or returned at the start of the semester) and one in which Cornell opens and 100% of the students are in Ithaca (those who live off-campus and those who came back specifically because we were opening). The conclusions are the same – opening campus is safer than not opening campus – whether off-campus students are year-round graduate students or undergraduates returning from their family homes for the start of the semester.

The key is that opening campus allows the university significantly better monitoring of virus prevalence, which in turn enhances the ability to take effective corrective measures. These results remain robust even if the prevalence rates or student population sizes assumed by the model are varied considerably. For more detail to this and other questions, see the responses the modeling team has been posting on the university faculty webpage.

The town halls can be accessed using the links below:

• Town Hall for Graduate and Professional Students (July 22)
• Student Forum on Campus Reactivation (July 22)
• International Graduate and Professional Student Town Hall (July 17)
• Student Forum on Campus Reactivation (July 15)
• Employee Assembly Staff Open Forum (July 9)
• International Town Hall for Students, Parents, and Alumni (July 9)
• Ithaca Area Community Town Hall on Cornell Reactivation (July 8)

To allow for physical distancing, spaces for in person and on campus classes will be limited. When course enrollment opens, you will register for one modality among the choices for a particular course and you will remain in that modality for the duration of the semester. Most in person courses will offer a “remote” option to accommodate the needs of in person students when they cannot come to campus because, for example, they are in quarantine. If you register for the in person option but at some point need a “remote” option for a limited period of time, that should be available to you. Your course enrollment instructions will include more details about these issues.

Several non-academic factors might complicate mid-semester travel to Ithaca as well. Once you receive your visa, you still need to travel to Ithaca and, once you arrive, you may need to quarantine for 14 days depending on what public health requirements are in effect at that time.

According to Cornell’s International Services office, current students should be able to return to Ithaca, assuming there are no travel restrictions. For incoming students, it is less clear. International Services is working to answer that question. Please review their FAQ and direct any immigration-related questions to them.

The course enrollment deadlines have not been announced, but we believe the deadlines will be the same for all modalities.

There may be different enrollment periods for different types of students. For example, under normal circumstances, graduate students have different deadlines than undergraduate freshmen. Fall 2020 enrollment periods are still being determined.

Academic progress can be course-based or research-based. Students should be able to make course-based progress regardless of whether they are on campus or at another location, assuming they have reliable access to the internet. Most courses, including in person courses, will have a remote modality

Research-based progress may depend on the type of research. Students should discuss whether it is possible to make progress remotely with their special committee chair and committee members as appropriate.

For research degree students who are outside of the United States, specific eligibility criteria govern whether they can be funded through an assistantship. Cornell’s Office of Global Learning is examining this. Please check the International Services FAQ for updates to these criteria.

Students will be able to choose course modality when they register for classes. Courses with a necessary hands-on component, like a clinical course, will likely be in person, but may have remote options. Course modality will be listed explicitly in the course enrollment once it opens for registration.

For incoming doctoral students, this is a context-dependent question. Incoming doctoral students should be in touch with their graduate field. Some graduate doctoral programs are course-based in the first year. These courses may be online only or hybrid (in person and remote). For those programs, there will may be no problem with choosing the remote option from a course standpoint, but assistantships may not be available to incoming graduate students. Cornell’s Global Learning office is working to clarify this; current restrictions are described on the Graduate School website, but may be updated in the coming weeks.

In other programs, such as many in the life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering, the first year is geared towards research. Students often engage in lab rotations with different faculty PIs for six to eight weeks. Students in these programs move from one advisor in one lab to another advisor in another lab every six to eight weeks throughout the first academic year.

Over the course of these rotations, students and faculty become acquainted. By the end of the first year, students are equipped to select an advisor, and the advisor can select the students to be their advisees. Graduate fields with this type of rotation are best experienced in person for the research component during fall semester and/or spring semester.

Given the differences in how fields structure their first year, it’s best to be in touch with your graduate field to discuss your options.

If you are interested in graduating early, your main consideration will likely be whether required courses will be available to you in Fall 2020. Under normal circumstances, there is no guarantee that all courses will occur in the fall. Under these pandemic conditions, Cornell is trying to offer as many courses as possible, but a required course may not be available. When course enrollments starts, review the available courses and talk to your graduate field.

The university’s campus use guidance is that if activities can be conducted remotely, you are encouraged to conduct them remotely. If there is a real need for an in-person committee meeting, that could occur if everyone has completed the required Daily Check before coming to campus, and appropriate behaviors are followed in the meeting, including social distancing, wearing masks, etc. Most committee meetings, however, should be able to be conducted remotely, and for required meetings, like A exams and B exams, the Graduate School supports them being done remotely.

Cornell has emergency resources available through the Dean of Students office. The Access Funds provide up to $500 per student to help mitigate barriers to accessing basic necessities and covering emergency expenses. Access Fund information and an application are available on the Student and Campus Life website.

For Fall 2020, the assistantship and fellowship stipends and appointments will begin as scheduled. These dates will not shift with the change in the academic calendar, which is moving back by one week. For Spring 2021, stipends and appointments are scheduled to remain on the existing schedule. There will be no gap in funding between the summer and fall appointments or between the fall and spring appointments. The previously announced 3% stipend increase is being implemented.

There are two types of leave of absence available through the Graduate School: a health leave of absence or a personal leave of absence. Both types of leave can be for up to 12 months, with annual renewal possible for a total of four years. Time away does not count toward time to degree. 

For a health leave, the original offer of financial support at the time of admission is continued when you return if you are in good academic standing. For a personal leave, the original offer of financial support at time of admission is not guaranteed when you return. 

The Graduate School will offer exceptional flexibility with all Graduate School fellowship funding for students who elect to take a leave of absence, but students should verify with their field or funding source before finalizing a leave of absence. Some external funding agencies do not allow for a gap in enrollment. The NSF GRFP is one example, but others have similar limitations. Scholarship awards in some professional master’s programs may be preserved for students who take leaves, but  that needs to be verified with the graduate program in advance. You can find more details on the Graduate School website, under the Policies page. If you are in a professional school, check with your degree program.

Graduate students who are appointed as teaching assistants (TAs) for Fall 2020 should first check with their supervisor to inquire about the anticipated modality for that course.

At Cornell, selecting the modality (in person, hybrid, or remote) is decided by academic departments and their faculty. Since most in person courses will likely have remote accessibility, the department may be able to offer flexibility and have the individual teaching assistant choose the modality.

Many departments have indicated that their curriculum is flexible enough that the modality can be chosen by the teaching assistant. All departments are aware that these sensitive issues exist and that our intention is to reach a resolution early in the process outlined below. The process is designed for all parties to be heard fairly and to help identify creative solutions. 

Steps:

1. If the original TA assignment is for in person teaching, but the teaching assistant needs remote teaching due to a vulnerable household member, then the student and supervisor should discuss changing the teaching assignment or modality.
2. If the issue is the supervisor and student can’t reach a resolution, then they should consult with the director of graduate studies for the graduate field.
3. If the director of graduate studies, TA supervisor, and the teaching assistant cannot reach a resolution, then the department chair can enter into the discussion.
4. If the department chair, TA supervisor, and the teaching assistant cannot reach a resolution, then the Graduate School can enter into the discussion.

Departments and their faculty determine the modality. Teaching assistants (TAs) who need or prefer to teach remotely and whose departments have designated a course for teaching remotely will be able to teach remotely without taking any additional steps.

In situations where the teaching modality does not match the TA’s need or preference and the TA has personal health concerns, then the TA should register with Student Disability Services (SDS) to identify appropriate accommodations.

SDS has adopted a non-medicalized approach based on social justice philosophy and does not share personal health history information with faculty. Faculty should not request medical information from students. If staff, faculty, or others outside of SDS are seeking medical information, then please let your DGS know, and the Graduate School will intervene.

The July 15 message to all students explained some of the main points of the mandatory virus testing process, for students, faculty, and staff. More details, including details about the Behavioral Compact, will be coming soon.

There will be no out of pocket costs for students to get tested whether they’re on the student health plan or not. The July 15 message also indicated that all Cornell employees will be subject to periodic surveillance testing.

Many graduate students on assistantships and other appointments are trained. For example, students who are appointed in West Campus housing facilities as graduate resident fellows are trained extensively to work with and model appropriate behaviors and standard expectations. If a graduate RA has any qualms about their duties and especially about insufficient training, these should be brought to their supervisor.

In addition, anyone can use the Cornell hotline to report inappropriate behavior, including feeling coerced by a supervisor to do something unsafe or unhealthy. The hotline is run by an external service, EthicsPoint, and 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.

Contact tracing is the responsibility of Tompkins County Health Department. They’ll interview COVID-19 positive individuals to determine who is a true contact based on the time spent together and the distance between the individuals during a two day period prior to the onset of symptoms or prior to a positive test.

Based on past experience, Vice Provost Koretzky, who is leading the Health Considerations Committee, indicated that the number of significant contacts identified for students is typically about eight to 10 based on time together and the distance that was between the individuals.