October 5, 2020
Dear T'22s,
As we near the end of Fall A and your well-deserved break, we write to provide an update on the teaching format that you will return to for Fall B.
We’ve long said that our transition back to our distinct in-person learning community would be phased and gradual, and over the last few weeks we’ve continued to make progress on this front.
As shared previously, Tuck has made investments in technology and public health supports to ready classrooms for hybrid learning – from the installation of wall beaming microphones to upgrading the filters in our classroom ventilation systems, new cleaning protocols, and now increasing the number of portable air purifiers in our spaces.
During the Fall B term, we will begin to introduce hybrid arrangements for first-year students. Throughout higher education, “hybrid” is being used to describe many different arrangements. For our purposes, hybrid instruction at Tuck refers to synchronous learning in which some participants are in the classroom and some are remote. The same can be true of professors.
Second-year students are currently able to partake in classroom learning which we call Hybrid Phase One. We anticipate that we will offer this arrangement to first-year students for the start of Fall B, and hopefully iterate to other phases of hybrid from there. Again, we are taking a phased and gradual approach with the health and wellbeing of all community members foremost in mind.
More details will be shared in the near future about how classroom allocations will work for Hybrid Phase One Fall B courses. Since all first-year students participate in the same core classes, we expect that you will be in classrooms with other students who are taking the same course. There will be a rotating, equitable system for when students have classroom allocations. This is needed as current public health guidance limits our classroom spaces to roughly 20 percent of normal capacity.
Please note that attending class on-campus during any phase of the fall term will remain optional, with the exception of our Ethics in Action course which fulfills Tuck’s Ethics and Social Responsibility requirement. Fall academic offerings will be made available to students online so that you can participate wherever in the world you may be and make public health decisions that are best for you and your loved ones.
We are cheering you on as you wrap-up your Fall A term.
Joe, Brian, and Sally
Joe Hall, Senior Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning
Brian Tomlin, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
Sally Jaeger, Associate Dean, MBA Program
Dartmouth has formed a high-level task force to plan for and manage possible disruptions related to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, monitor federal and state recommendations, implement guidance, and communicate with our community.