Dear PhD Students,

Last week, President Schlissel announced a public health-informed, in-residence semester this fall. At the School of Social Work, as elsewhere on campus, this will consist of a mixture of in-person and remote classes structured to reflect our commitment to promoting public health, while fulfilling our fundamental mission of transformative education.
We know this message is long,
but believe the length is necessary for clarity.
The fall semester will look and feel very different due to the challenges of COVID-19, and will bring with it new protocols and strategies that are necessary to keep our social work community safe. We will ask each of you to adopt health and safety practices that will embody our commitment to care for one another. A committee of SSW students, faculty and staff is currently working on the building re-entry guidelines. We will be sharing these with you in the next few weeks. 

The university’s Maize and Blueprint website provides comprehensive information about the implementation plan, guiding principles and current status. All of this information will also be available on the School’s fall 2020 website.

We have been anticipating the university’s announcement and we are actively planning for the fall semester. Below we have provided some SSW-specific information.
FALL CLASSES
  • SSW will begin the semester on August 31.
  • We explored options for arranging in-person class offerings, while maintaining the ⅓ building capacity for social distancing. To accomplish this, in-person class sessions will be held roughly once every 3 weeks, using only the large classrooms. Your class is likely to meet in person 4 times, every 3rd week from August 31 through November 20. Information on your in-person class sessions will be provided at the earliest date possible.
  • We anticipate that there will be a percentage of our students who must be exclusively remote this fall due to factors like health status, caregiving responsibilities, housing or immigration issues. For this reason, we will be offering a number of our classes and class sections fully online this fall. Determinations about which classes these will be is being made now. If you are a student that will need to take all of your classes exclusively online, please complete this form by July 3, 2020.
  • There will be no fall break.
  • The last day of in-person classes for the fall term will be November 20.
  • Fall classes resume November 30 – December 8 as remote-only instruction with exams and final projects conducted online. 

WINTER CLASSES
  • Winter semester will begin on January 18 with a day celebrating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
  • Classes will begin on January 19 and meet continuously through April 20.
  • There will be no spring break.
  • Final exams will run April 22-29.

JOINT PROGRAMS
We do not yet have full details regarding how our social science partners will handle the fall term. As soon as we have this information, we will pass it along to you. From our conversations with them, it appears they will handle the term in a similar fashion to what we have outlined above. However, we suggest that if you have more specific questions about your social science, you reach directly out to them. 
 
STUDENT EMERGENCY FUND
The School of Social Work Student Emergency Fund helps students with food, transportation, housing and other needs. Additionally, The University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid may be able to assist with COVID-related costs. To learn more about emergency funding assistance, contact Cerise Carrington ( cmcar@umich.edu ).

PREVENTION & CARE
  • Our collective safety requires we all do our part by practicing robust personal hygiene habits, wearing a face covering when appropriate, maintaining a physical distance of 6 feet and staying home when sick. 
  • Per the State of Michigan Executive order, any individual able to medically tolerate a face covering must wear a covering over their nose and mouth — such as a homemade mask, scarf or bandana — in a building.
  • U-M has developed a health screening tool to test for infection, support self-monitoring and comply with any statewide executive orders that may be in effect.
  • U-M is providing a kit for each student including masks and hand sanitizer.
  • U-M custodial teams will increase the cleaning frequency of high-touch surfaces in common spaces using disinfectants.
  • Everyone is encouraged to clean and disinfect tables and chairs in classrooms and common areas after use.

@ SSW BUILDING
  • Remember, the School of Social Work Building is currently closed and only critical/essential workers may enter the building.
FALL PROTOCOLS
  • Stay home if you are sick.
  • Work from home when possible. 
  • You can only enter the building from the main entrance at South University and East University.
  • Upon entry through you will be asked to participate in a brief screening process, which includes 5 questions and a temperature check.
  • Everyone entering the building must complete the U-M Health Screen app once a day.
  • To speed this process along and to avoid delays, complete the online health screening and be ready to present the completed screen to the person monitoring the door.
  • To reduce contact, there will be new traffic patterns in the building.
  • Restrooms and classrooms are being reconfigured to allow for social distancing.
  • Kitchens and lounges will be closed for the fall semester. 
  • U-M is developing plans to protect vulnerable members of our community, and will work with individuals to every extent possible to address their concerns.
  • Meetings and training sessions will be remote using phone or video conferencing.

PHD WORK SUITE
  • Work from home when possible.
  • Stay home if you are sick.
  • Cubicle walls have been extended to provide safer working spaces.
  • Since cubicles are shared, DSO is working to create a usage schedule to avoid having two students there at the same time.
  • The lounge and kitchen are closed for the fall semester.
  • The main stairwell will be a down direction only stairwell. You will be asked to exit the PhD suite through the stairwell in the corner near the copier. You will also use this stairwell if you need to access the upper floors.
  • PhD students will be able to exit the suite to use the restrooms near the elevator.
“As students at the nation’s top public research university, we have the opportunity to show the world that this can be done. At the same time, our ‘public’ responsibility has never been more literal and important.”
—University of Michigan President Mark S. Schlissel

Additional information will be provided soon, including a school-wide fall website. Let us know if you have any questions at this time and thank you for your understanding.

Lynn Videka , Dean
Tim Colenback , Assistant Dean for Student Services
Willie Elliott , Director, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science
Lorraine Gutiérrez , Associate Dean for Educational Programs