Cornell, Tompkins County Responses to Lifton Question

Cornell University, Cayuga Medical Center, and the Tompkins County Health Department responded to questions from Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton regarding Cornell’s reactivation plan. The questions and responses can be found in the Ithaca Times (PDF link at top of page).

Cornell Reactivation Plan Submitted to NY State

On June 30, Cornell University announced plans for the fall 2020 semester, which includes a hybrid approach to a residential semester with classes beginning September 2 and returning home for Thanksgiving to finish the semester remotely.

These plans, further described in the Reactivation Plan document, apply to Cornell’s Ithaca campus (and Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York), and were informed by the university’s reactivation planning committee process and guidance from New York state (NYS) and local public health officials. Cornell is following NY Forward guidance for higher education for its reactivation planning; this document details the university’s reactivation plans in-line with the checklist for higher education provided by NYS. In some instances, Cornell relied on industry-specific guidance from NY Forward related to its operation of research labs, food service, office-based work, and retail business activities.

New Graduate School Reactivation FAQs

The Graduate School has compiled a new page of FAQs on concerns related to the Ithaca campus reactivation. FAQs address university reactivation; classes, research, and modality; finances and funding; teaching assistants; and testing, tracing, and monitoring. Check back for updates over the next few weeks as we get more answers to your questions.

Visit the Reactivation FAQs page for regularly updated information.

Updates on Virus Modeling, Teaching Workshops and Tools

June 15 Report Addendum

The modeling team has produced this addendum to its June 15 Report. It covers issues raised on the C-TRO Frazier Modeling page and elsewhere, e.g., alternative methodologies for estimating contacts per day and transmission rate, effectiveness of increased test frequency, effect of non-compliance with testing, effect of offering testing to virtual instruction students, etc.

Teaching Workshops and Tools

New Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) workshops on Teaching In-Person Courses with Remote Students begin Thursday, 7/30. Register for Track A: Guided Support for In-Person Courses with Remote Students or Track B: Independent Support for In-Person Courses with Remote Students.

Ally is a tool offered at Cornell to help make online course materials more accessible. Register for the next training workshop on Wednesday, 8/5.

COVID-Era Laboratory Teaching: A forum for instructors to share ideas and plans for in-person labs with technology for remote participation, virtual labs, and more. Friday, 7/31, 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. via Zoom. This Community of Practice teaching event is sponsored by CTI.

Anti-racism Resources

An anti-racism resource webpage has been created by the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity to help engage in reflection, conversations, and action about race and anti-racism. The list includes experiences (including the Graduate School’s My Voice My Story program), podcasts, articles, short stories, books, films, practice, and links to additional resource compilations.

Student Spotlight: Drea Darby

Drea Darby is a doctoral student in entomology from Las Vegas, Nevada. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and attending the 2018 Diversity Preview Weekend, she chose to pursue further study at Cornell due to an alignment of research interests and a feeling of support.

Read the full student spotlight

Interested in what other graduate students are doing both on and off campus?

Check out our student spotlights, Q&As with current students about their research, hobbies, and experiences at Cornell.