March 8, 2020, 10:11 p.m.

Time Sensitive Update on COVID-19

Dear CSSW Students and Faculty,

By now you will have seen the message from President Bollinger (appended below) regarding the suspension of classes on Monday and Tuesday. All classes at the School of Social Work on Monday and Tuesday of this week are canceled. We will be in touch shortly with information about the shift to online courses for Wednesday through the end of the week.

Field placements and all other non-classroom activities will continue as usual. If you have specific concerns about your own situation, please contact Dean Moira Curtain in Advising (mac17@columbia.edu) or Dean Kathryne Leak in Field (khl6@columbia.edu) right away.

I realize that current conditions are very stressful. The University is taking all information into consideration and making decisions as rapidly as possible for the good of our community. Please know how grateful we are for your flexibility and understanding.

Best regards,

Melissa

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Melissa D. Begg
Dean & Professor
Columbia School of Social Work

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Lee C. Bollinger
Date: Sun, Mar 8, 2020 at 8:41 PM
Subject: Time Sensitive Update on COVID-19
To:

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I am writing this evening to notify everyone that, because a member of our community has been quarantined as a result of exposure to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we have decided to suspend classes on Monday and Tuesday. This suspension of activities will allow us to prepare to shift to remote classes for the remainder of the week. I want to emphasize that the individual who has been quarantined has not been diagnosed at this point with the virus.

Please understand that the decision to suspend classes does not mean that the University is shutting down. All non-classroom activities, including research, will continue in accordance with the new travel and events restrictions announced recently. At this point, just to restate what is important to know, we do not have a confirmed case of the virus on campus. This action is intended to prevent the virus from spreading.

This message will soon be followed by more specific information from deans and other University leaders, including plans for remote instruction beginning Wednesday and continuing until the start of Spring Break on Friday.

Let me say how much we appreciate the efforts of everyone who is helping us work our way through this challenging situation and your understanding and attention. As always, we are especially committed to providing updates as we have more information and recommendations.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger