Statement by NYU Spokesman John Beckman
"The safety and well-being of the NYU community are of paramount concern to the University's leadership.
"Leadership at NYU has been focused on the novel coronavirus illness since the first reports began to emerge. We have had a team that includes our Student Health Center, the Provost's Office, our Global offices, Student Affairs, our communications operation, and our Public Safety Department concentrating on monitoring developments, planning, and communicating with the University community.
"Our Health Center staff has continued to be in frequent direct contact with state and local health departments, as well as with other university health operations, and has also been following guidance from the CDC and the WHO. In line with that guidance, we have directly communicated with all the students from affected areas advising them about the symptoms of the illness, and instructing them to go to the Health Center if they are demonstrating the symptoms. The head of our health center also sent out a University-wide email about the virus last week, and we've established a page with information about the virus.
"Spring semester classes started today in New York, and they start tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. So far, there have been no cases of 2019-nCoV on any of our campuses.
"Since last week, when we announced that we had delayed the start of the spring semester at NYU Shanghai until February 10th, the municipal authorities in Shanghai have requested that all universities in Shanghai delay the start of the spring semester until February 17. So, our academic planning has centered around two issues: 1) contingency planning for NYU Shanghai to address students' academic progress if circumstances prevent classes from going forward on February 17, and 2) planning to address academic progress for students who are unable to resume their studies because of travel restrictions (e.g., from affected areas in China).
"We have communicated to the affected students about the new delay. We will be communicating with them again in the next day about our contingency plans.
"We have also separately communicated directly with students who are from regions where travel restrictions are in effect to let us know if they are unable to return to school. We are also reaching out to faculty who, our records reflect, have students in their classes who may be affected by the travel restrictions; we are giving those faculty guidance and options about how they can enable the students who may be stuck in China to participate in the class."