NYU Update on COVID-19
March 11, 2020
"Coronavirus-related developments are the subject of daily high-level analysis, planning, and response at NYU, and the University continues to rely on the tenets that have guided it since word of the new illness first emerged -- a commitment to safeguard our community's health; a commitment to our core academic mission, including students' academic continuity; and a commitment to help check the spread of the virus.
"In recent days there have been some significant decisions and developments. These include:
- Transitioning to Remotely-held Classes: On March 9, NYU announced that it is moving to remotely-held classes across the University, including throughout its New York City campus, as of Wednesday, March 11. Following spring break week -- March 16 through 20 -- all classes will continue to be conducted remotely through at least Friday, March 27
- COVID-19 in the NYU community: 1) A New York-based faculty member without teaching duties this semester has been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19. The faculty member is comfortably self-isolating. 2) A member of the NYU Abu Dhabi community who had been abroad is currently undergoing testing; the individual is resting comfortably in a hospital in the UAE. The cases are unrelated. The individuals and the University are acting in close consultation with local health authorities in New York and Abu Dhabi. These two instances—one confirmed case, one individual undergoing testing—are the only two of which the university is currently aware throughout the NYU community
- Additional Travel Restrictions - Domestic: The University is prohibiting upcoming, non-essential, University-sponsored domestic travel to California and Washington State, and discouraging other non-essential domestic travel (NYU had previously prohibited non-essential international travel on University business)
- Cancelling In-person Admissions Activities: NYU is cancelling admissions tours, info sessions, and on-campus events through April
- Curbing Gatherings: The University has discouraged all non-essential, non-academic public gatherings on campus
- Restricting Guests: NYU has discouraged the University community from hosting events involving guests who have traveled, and added more restrictive guest policies in the student residence halls
- Discontinuing In-Person Academic Coursework at All European Study Abroad Sites: On March 10, NYU announced to students at European Study Abroad sites that it is moving to discontinue in-person academic coursework at all its remaining European Study Abroad sites this week (the University closed the Florence site in late February). The communication, which strongly encouraged the students to travel home, also indicated that all courses would transition to remotely-held classes
"Notwithstanding these significant changes in University operations and other challenges, NYU's faculty and students, as well as administrators and staff, continue to demonstrate their characteristic resilience and determination. The University is very proud of them, and grateful to them."
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NYU Update on COVID-19
March 3, 2020
"COVID-19 remains the focus of a working group of senior administrators at NYU. That group has been meeting daily to scrutinize new information COVID-19 virus, report to NYU's senior-most leadership, respond to development that affect NYU's programs, and plan for contingencies. In its work, the group is guided by a commitment to the health and safety of the NYU community and the University's responsibility to fulfill its academic mission of education and scholarship.
"Among the most recent developments are the following:
University-wide
- Travel Prohibition: NYU has prohibited all upcoming non-essential international travel.
- Study Abroad Programs
- NYU's Study Abroad site in Florence: On February 24, NYU suspended in-person classes at its Florence Study Abroad site, temporarily suspended day-to-day operations at the Florence campus, and sent students home. Classes resumed through remote technologies this week and will continue (except for spring break) until at least March 29, when we hope to be able to reconvene classes at the Florence campus.
- Our other 11 Study Abroad locations: After reviewing guidance from the CDC and the New York State Department of Health, NYU will continue conducting classes in its other 11 locations at this juncture. However, the University today communicated with students studying abroad that they can voluntarily return to their homes and participate in their classes remotely, if they wish. The University will continue to closely monitor conditions in those countries for developments that might cause NYU to change its assessment.
- Contingency Planning
- Currently conditions do not indicate a need to alter the regular program of teaching and learning and research. However, out of an abundance of caution and readiness, the University, working the deans of its schools, are undertaking relevant contingency planning to sustain our students' educational progress and safeguard scholarly research in the event such a need should arise.
At the NYU Abu Dhabi campus
- Candidates' Weekend: Candidates Weekend, which draws applicants from around the world to NYU Abu Dhabi's campus, is a unique and important part of the admissions process there. Given the circumstances, leadership at NYUAD has decided to substitute a "virtual Candidates' Weekend" for the scheduled, upcoming, in person Candidates' Weekend
- Inauguration of the New Vice Chancellor : NYUAD will postpone until fall the planned inauguration of a new vice chancellor
- Postponement of Academic Summit: An academic summit to be held in conjunction with the Times Higher Ed in early March that would have drawn higher education leaders from around the region will be postponed
- Personal Travel: NYUAD is urging its community members to postpone personal travel for the time being"
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NYU Update on Coronavirus-Related Developments, including NYU Florence
February 24, 2020
"NYU continues to be guided by two priorities--the health and well-being of our community across the globe, and the academic progress of our students.
"As of this date, there are no cases of coronavirus infection at any of our academic locations around the world, including in Shanghai.
"The occurrence of coronavirus cases has climbed steeply in northern Italy. In response, the Italian government has been taking swift action to try to prevent its spread. While we do not believe there is a pressing health threat to the NYU Florence community, the past month has taught us that countries may swiftly and unexpectedly make decisions that can significantly affect one’s ability to travel.
"So, we have made a decision to cancel classes for the rest of the week at NYU Florence; to suspend operations at the campus on Thursday, February 27; to begin holding classes remotely starting on Monday, March 2 (the experience we've gained at NYU Shanghai should help with this); and to carry on in this manner until at least March 29, when we hope everyone can reconvene at Villa La Pietra.
"We have urged students to leave Florence for this period; staff from NYU Florence will be available to assist the students in making arrangements as needed until the campus closes.
"As to elsewhere: in New York, classes are proceeding normally -- classes began on January 27, and for the vast majority of students and others who joined us by that date, we are well past the incubation period. Though we made provisions in our student housing system for students who might need to self-quarantine, we did not have to make use of them.
"At NYU Shanghai, our colleagues successfully started classes last week. Thanks to the dedication of NYU Shanghai's faculty and academic support staff (see this lovely tribute put together by NYU Shanghai senior Maudie Carey), in the space of little more than two weeks nearly 300 courses were converted from meeting face-to-face to meeting remotely using online technologies. Several hundred students are pursuing their studies this way; several hundred others have been reassigned to other NYU academic sites around the world. NYU Shanghai has published a write-up about the effort. We remain hopeful that the authorities in Shanghai will permit schools to open and classes to meet later this semester; the classes have been designed to allow that to readily proceed.
"The NYU community has, in almost all instances, responded with patience, good spirits, resilience, and calm to these developments. We are grateful for that, and proud of the flexibility accorded to us by our global network of academic sites and our technological capabilities."
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NYU Updated Statement on the Coronavirus
February 3, 2020
"The safety and well-being of the NYU community remains of paramount concern to the University, and the University continues to monitor 2019-nCoV-related developments, to do planning to minimize disruption to teaching and learning across NYU's global network, and to communicate with students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
"As of yet, there are no cases of infected individuals at any NYU location.
"In an update on Friday, the University discussed a number of important developments. We indicated that at NYU Shanghai classes will start remotely on February 17 using technology. We have focused our academic planning on assisting with the start of classes, helping students who are able to enroll elsewhere in NYU's global network, and permitting those who wish to take a leave of absence. We look forward to resuming classes at NYU Shanghai face-to-face as soon as it is appropriate and practicable.
"We have also been engaged in academic planning to help students who couldn't return to New York because of travel restrictions participate in class. And we made clear that University-related travel to China is suspended, consistent with US government travel advisories.
"In addition, as of last week, we found spots at our New York campus or at our other Study Away sites for the roughly 80 - 100 NYU students who were slated to study away in Shanghai this semester, and we were able to accommodate every student who requested a change.
"Since the update was sent on Friday, the US government has issued new restrictions on travelers coming from China. In line with those changes, and in an effort to ensure that members of our community who may have returned recently from China get the most up-to-date medical and public health guidance, we sent out another communication today to students, faculty, staff, and administrators asking them to fill out a form if they have returned from China since January 20th.
"The NYU community remains calm, with our community members showing a great deal of flexibility in helping to meet the challenges that 2019-nCov has caused."
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NYU Update on Statement Regarding the Novel Coronavirus
January 27, 2020
"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."
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NYU Statement Regarding Steps in Response to 2019-nCoV
January 23, 2020
"The safety and health of the NYU community is a foremost concern the University.
“The University is closely monitoring developments in connection with the emergence of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Wuhan area of China, and our Student Health Center is staying in regular contact with government health authorities.
"There are no known cases of 2019-nCoV among members of the NYU community at this point, and the leadership at NYU's Student Health Center urges calm. Respiratory illnesses are common at this time of year; the Student Health Center has well-established protocols for dealing with communicable illnesses, and there will be a heightened emphasis on determining travel histories for those presenting with respiratory illnesses.
Resumption of Classes
“With the exception of NYU Shanghai, all classes, activities, operations, and events are expected to go forward as scheduled at all NYU sites and locations.
“In Shanghai, municipal authorities have asked universities to put new public health protocols in place. With the Chinese New Year holiday period beginning tomorrow, NYU Shanghai will delay its start of the spring semester by one week, so as to facilitate a smooth return of students thereafter. Therefore, spring classes for NYU Shanghai are now scheduled to start on February 10.
Outreach
"The medical staff at the Student Health Center, as mentioned, is in regular touch with governmental health authorities so as to insure we are following the most up-to-date guidance. As we receive new information or directions, we will update the community. We have already taken a number of steps to communicate with relevant groups of students:
- We have communicated with those students who, according to our records, are from the Wuhan region. We have provided them with information about the symptoms, instructed them to check in with us if they are experiencing those symptoms, reminded them about the availability of NYU health services, and other related information. In addition, we have advised them on whom to contact if travel restrictions imposed on Wuhan prevent them from being able to return to campus for the start of the spring semester.
- We have advised all the students at NYU Shanghai—many of whom customarily travel in China or elsewhere in Asia during the Chinese New Year period—to avoid travel to the Wuhan area; that advice should also apply to others in the NYU community thinking about traveling to China. We have also provided them with information about the symptoms of 2019-nCoV, reminded them about availing themselves of health services in China, and other related information.
- We have communicated with all the students who were studying at NYU Shanghai during J-term (January Term), providing them with information about the symptoms of 2019-nCoV, how to proceed if they are experiencing symptoms, and other related information.
- We have posted information about 2019-nCoV on the Student Health Center site as a general information resource to the community
Continued Monitoring
“The Student Health Center's posture is currently in line with most up-to-date guidance the World Health Organization, the CDC, and State and City health agencies. The SHC will continue to monitor and be in touch with those agencies, and will be seeking and acting on any guidance specific to university settings.
"Those who have questions may call the NYU Student Health Center at 212.443.1000."