From: "Ira Katznelson, Interim Provost" <Provost@columbia.edu>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
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Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2020 21:17:42 +0000
Subject: Toward a Safe Campus

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community,

With only some six weeks ahead of us before students gather and instruction commences for the fall term, we are writing to summarize how the University is acting to make Columbia as safe as possible—indeed, more safe than the broader environment—with the return to an increasing level of campus density.

Our experiences to date are heartening. Laboratory research has resumed successfully with great care, and more than 1,400 faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students have undergone gateway COVID testing. So, too, has clinical training in medicine, dentistry, and nursing resumed. Our residence halls have been safely housing students who have needed to remain on campus even after the great majority were asked to return home in mid-March. Staff performing essential tasks have been on campus in safety.

Building on these efforts, assiduous work has been moving forward to prepare for return of more of our faculty, staff, and students to campus and to regain the usual vibrancy of our community. Every deliberation in the University COVID-19 Task Force, in the working groups on education, facilities, public health, and research, in the planning efforts at each of our schools, and in judgments about the character of instruction and the arrangement of physical space, has been guided, above all, by the goal of mitigating risk.

As each of you considers returning to campus, especially performing and supporting our core purposes of teaching, research, and service, we wish to highlight steps that are underway. They fall into three broad categories: (1) adjustments to buildings and common spaces; (2) individual-level requirements; and (3) actions geared to build a culture of mutual care and compliance.

Facility Enhancements

You will immediately see how the campus has been subtly, but importantly, altered in appearance and functioning. Signage has been widely installed to promote physical distancing and signal required public health practices. Elevators have posted limits on occupancy, and classrooms are also being modified with posted limits. New technologies have been installed to better connect students participating virtually in courses with those who are in the classroom. Workspaces have been redesigned to provide safe separation. Hand sanitizing stations are ubiquitous. Face coverings and personal protective equipment have been made available.