URGENT (International Students)
What is Harvard's response to the new legislation around deporting internationals?
This is urgent: please go to https://oie.fas.harvard.edu/international-student-advising
and see their FAQs here: https://oie.fas.harvard.edu/international%20students/covid-19-updates-faqs and email them directly here: oie@fas.harvard.edu
And as soon as it's available this morning's webinar will be posted!
TRUST that everyone is on this 24/7. Like I said, I will put on a daggone bubble suit and teach a class in front of Widener if I have to.
WORKING/ RESEARCHING/ SOCIAL CLUBBING WHILE ON LEAVE
Will students be able to conduct in person research if taking a leave of absence, or if enrolled remotely & off campus?
"if taking a leave of absence" -- Libraries and other facilities may normally be used only by students who are currently registered. Students on leave or required to withdraw may not participate in extracurricular activities. Exceptions to this particular rule must be specifically approved in advance by the Administrative Board (https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/leaves-absence) via an INQUIRY submitted with their Resident Dean (me).
"if enrolled remotely & off campus?" -- this would be up to your Faculty advisor who presumably must follow guidelines and protocols from Harvard so best to discuss with said advisor. If enrolled remotely I highly doubt any Faculty will be sending their students to do anything in person.
If I take a semester/year off, can I do full-time research with Harvard faculty instead? Do you have to give up access to Harvard resources?
Students on leave are not enrolled students and, therefore, are by default not provided access to physical or digital resources on campus. Such access must be requested via an INQUIRY (see above). This is in reference to research only and not employment which is not allowed at all and not overseen by the Board.
I'm a TF for CS50, which is a job a love doing. If I take a leave of absence, I would still like to teach. The CS50 admins said that I need official permission from my resident dean to work a student job while on leave, but assuming that I get permission, they'd love to have me.
First, though I'm sure you are lovely, CS50 is entirely mistaken and should not be giving this advice, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. The current OUE policy is that students must be enrolled to work as a CA or TF.
Libraries and other facilities may normally be used only by students who are currently registered. Students on leave or required to withdraw may not participate in extracurricular activities. Exceptions to this particular rule must be specifically approved in advance by the Administrative Board (https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/leaves-absence) but that is not in reference to the employment issue above.
If I'm living off campus in Cambridge, but enrolled as a 4th year student, would I be allowed to participate in on-campus research? If there are on campus events for seniors in the spring, would those living off campus be allowed to participate? Generally, how would life work for an enrolled student living off campus?
As long as you are an enrolled student you will have access to all Harvard intends to offer -- please also note that all Harvard will be offering this year is REMOTE. Campus events will continue to be virtual. Enrolled students living off campus will have lives that look pretty similar to how things currently look and have since March...only, hopefully, with a bit more structure now that we have had some time to plan. Harvard will not change anything that goes against current public health guidelines.
I am considering taking a semester leave for Fall 2020, but one thing possibly keeping me from that would be the fact that I am a social chair for 2 clubs for the 20-21 year. I know you can petition to still be involved in clubs on a leave, and since all activities are online (and I have been running zoom socials since march) I know I can fulfill my position without being enrolled. Would it still be possible to maintain these positions, given that the clubs themselves are okay with it?
See above responses about access to to resources for students on leave, this sounds like it would be an INQUIRY.
Thesis timeline if I take a semester off?
Please discuss directly with your thesis advisor, you can absolutely work on whatever you want while on leave but Faculty probably can't commit to much in terms of receiving feedback or grades, etc to students who are not enrolled.
RETURNING AND HOUSING CONCERNS
If I take a leave of absence, will those who do not take a leave be given priority in terms of housing when I return? If we do NOT take a Leave of Absence, will we be guaranteed housing when campus is open again or will we have to lottery with students who took a Leave of Absence?
The current plan is that IF Harvard brings back ANY students in the spring then that cohort would be seniors. And, even still, housing in the spring would depend on how many beds are available and how many students apply to return in the spring (the invited cohort would be Seniors). We can't guarantee housing in the spring semester just yet. And IF we bring only the seniors back they will have priority per the university's plan and we should have housing for them but not necessarily in their house
In the event that I am allowed to live on campus, are we allowed to socialize at all? Like in a pod system? Or are we expected to stay in the room at all times except to get food to bring back?
Please see the Residential Community Compact: https://dso.college.harvard.edu/files/dso/files/community_compact-6_5_20.pdf
I would not expect a pod system at this time.
Are students who don't take a leave of absence granted preference for on-campus housing if demand exceeds capacity for future semesters? Or are all students treated equally regardless of whether they've taken a leave?
Right now, the answer is that the plan is to wait and see what happens this Fall: factors such as how many first-years defer, how many students take a leave, how many students we can bring back this fall, etc. It's a numbers issue and no matter how much you ask or how many ways you ask the answer will be we don't know YET.*
EVERYTHING ELSE
When will a course catalog be available for students / when will my.harvard be updated with courses for 2020-21 academic year?
Per the academic calendar, it goes live 7.20 https://calendar.college.harvard.edu/calendar/upcoming?order=date&experience=&event_types%5B0%5D=32457574380599
Will CAMHS be providing any more resources for students as compared to what they did this past spring?
Great question to have on your mind for how to care for yourself this Fall. I don't see anything new on the website but hopefully they will as soon as they can. Take note that the clinicians aren't all on 12-month contracts and so the summer may be an issue of availability and resources. I believe they have some ongoing workshops right now, though: https://camhs.huhs.harvard.edu/workshops-and-groups
Since there won't be any organic in-person encounters/conversations, what are some ways in which I can get to know the amazing Winthrop faculty better?
I love this and it's why Winthrop is so great, we have the best inclusive attitude! Our resident tutors are FAN-TAS-TIC, I cannot stress this enough and our new Faculty Deans will, for sure, be reaching out with some casual events for you all to attend. This month is admittedly a lot but please trust that we have much in store for you!
*I don't write this lightly, it is the absolute worst to manage so much and plan so much when so many factors are undetermined. I don't have the best answers for how to manage this but know that I see it and I've managed and lived through my own set of battles and challenges. That's not to gaslight or say "oh there there, we've all been through hard times" NOPE.
It's to say something I know: there is another side to this, there is a way through. That is for certain. So, knowing that so many things are out of your control, what, I ask, is within your control?
I have a tattoo on my back right along my spine. The bolded line below is from a poem by Charles F. Lummis (1859-1928, a Harvard student who took a leave of absence and didn't return):
I am bigger than anything that can happen to me. All these things, sorrow, misfortune, and suffering, are outside my door. I am in the house, and I have the key.
When I got the tat I'd just started my first term of graduate school at Harvard and I had just been diagnosed with MS. There was no pandemic but my world as I knew it changed and it did so without my permission. Such a post is for another time but I mention it here to say that I know devastation, I know loss, I know that feeling of despair and bewilderment that life can go on while your own seems untenable.
Sometimes all you can do is to keep showing up (this is why Finding Nemo remains among my top five, yes FIVE, fave films of all time, #Idontcareidontcareidontcare).
So just keep showing up, even if you know and I know and everyone knows the answers will be the same.
Tell me, teach me, show all of us what it looks like to live through this moment.
We're paying attention.
Does taking the full year off affect your ability to return in the fall of 2021?
"NO. It does not impact your ability to enroll as a student. What might be impacted is housing. We cannot predict housing needs and capacity for Fall 2021. Some important dates regarding leaves of absence are September 9, the tenth Monday, and the first day of reading period.” Translation NO. Taking a leave of absence does not affect your ability to return to ENROLLMENT in the College. It’s actually always been in the student handbook that HOUSING (that "ordinarily" is intentional!) is not guaranteed – that’s nothing punitive. If there’s a huge outpouring of students and then a huge influx of students and it's not at the exact same rate (Math and Econ concentrators, help me out here!) then Harvard will have a numbers problem. No one can say that that is what will happen. No one can say that it won’t. You have to make the best decision for you with all of the information available and this is all there is. For this coming fall, what are the deadlines to decide if we'll be taking a leave of absence? "The deadlines for leaves of absence have not changed. We are asking students to confirm enrollment by July 24th, but you are able to take leaves after that date and throughout the semester. As we enter the semester, however, financial obligations may shift according to the chart laid out in the Handbook here: https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/students-financial-obligations-event Note that housing fees will not be charged for the summer of 2020." Translation Taking a leave administratively has not changed, the deadlines haven't changed, it's still all the same -Students can take a leave through the first day of reading period (December 4, 2020, https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/harvard-college-academic-calendar). The 10th Monday of the Fall term (November 9, 2020) is the deadline to not have the "no return before fall of next year" stipulation added. I know, weird wording. It means if you take a leave before November 9, 2020 you are eligible (see what I did there) to return the following spring term. If you take a leave after November 9, 2020 you are ordinarily not eligible to return until the next fall term. You will still be subject to financial obligations if you take a leave after the term begins (https://handbook.fas.harvard.edu/book/students-financial-obligations-event) which is September 9th so, I would deduce you have between now and September 9th to take a leave of absence before it starts to get weird with $$ and between now and November 9th before it starts to get weird with when you can return. Will students be able to conduct in person research if taking a leave of absence, or if enrolled remotely & off campus? This will dependent on the decisions made by campus libraries. So, in general, I would say no. I believe that Harvard libraries are doing curbside pick-up. Is tuition refund for time on leave if already paid? That is not a question I am equipped to answer but I urge you to discuss this with your financial aid officer or the Registrar’s office. Will students living off campus but in the area be able to access campus library resources? (That is, if I need to access campus archives for my thesis but am living off campus/am not approved to live on campus, will I still be able to access the archives or will access be restricted to people living on campus?) The informative albeit exhaustive DSO website addresses this question. The simple answer is probably not but I suggest being in touch directly with your thesis advisor. In the Academic Calendar, there is a Fall Session 1 and a Fall Session 2. What is the difference between them? Are we only meant to register for one session? Fall Session 1 and Fall Session 2 refer to courses that are offered at other Harvard schools which are split over the course of a semester. They only reflect a certain course structure, not a change to the academic calendar. You are meant to register for the full academic semester. If I'm living off campus in Cambridge, but enrolled as a 4th year student, would I be allowed to participate in on-campus research? If there are on campus events for seniors in the spring, would those living off campus be allowed to participate? Generally, how would life work for an enrolled student living off campus? "Policies for the spring are yet to be determined based on how the fall term goes. For the current expectations for Fall 2020 for students living off-campus, please see the DSO website." Translation There will be no in-person Harvard campus events for students, everything will be remote. I get the sense that some of you think you’ll be missing out if you’re not on campus and I implore you to consider otherwise. There will be no such thing as campus life as any of us know it. How does the academic schedule work, with timing and synchronicity? Please see the office of undergraduate education website and see their contact address for questions. What about library books we have from last semester? Please go to the Harvard library website. What happens to our Olympia boxes? "You have the option of extending storage with Olympia or arranging with them to have your items shipped. You can find info on the DSO website related to storage with Olympia." Translation Go to their website and to the FAQs or to the search box and type in “Olympia.” [How will] Winthrop advising resources work for students who are in Winthrop but decide not to live on campus? For example, if I were to live in an apartment off campus, would I still be able to participate in Winthrop pre-med advising? How involved can [off-campus students] be in the house community (even if it is remotely), since I don’t want to miss out on being a part of Winthrop during my senior year! "Most advising will be virtual in nature. For students learning remotely, they will retain access to the Winthrop advising resources such as pre-med advising, and will be able to participate in the House community virtually. Students living off-campus or learning remotely will not for Fall 2020 be allowed to access residential spaces on campus however." Translation On or off campus your advising will be exactly the same as it has been since March: remote. You are not missing out on anything by not being on campus this year. Sure, maybe some other years I might allow that there’d some justifiable FOMO but during a global pandemic with ongoing disparities in all facets of society Harvard University’s campus is not the same. You will be invited to all the things, you will have access to all the things…remotely. Same as folks on campus. This I can promise.