Student with umbrella sliding back and forth through newly falling snow
Greetings, Grinnell Families
This newsletter is designed to provide the families of students with important information and a look at life as a Grinnellian. In this issue, you'll find important dates and deadlines and information about student health and wellness, financial aid, and more.
Pandemic Response
We have created the best possible environment to reduce transmission of Covid-19. Our high vaccination rate and the tremendous partnership with students, faculty, and staff to maintain masking have resulted in very few cases and no detectable transmission.

COVID-19 Boosters
The CDC recently updated guidance to permit anyone 18 or older to get a COVID-19 booster shot. Boosters and flu shots are widely available at pharmacies across the country. Grinnell College urges students and their families to receive both as soon as possible. Students can upload documentation of their COVID-19 and flu vaccinations to the SHAW portal.

Travel and COVID-19 Testing
For international travel, students should carry their vaccination records and research and plan for pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirements, especially with the emerging news about the omicron variant and travel restrictions.

Vaccinated students without symptoms and no confirmed exposure do not need to test upon return to campus.

COVID-19 Testing During Winter Break
Testing options for students in Iowa needing COVID-19 testing during winter break include the following:
  • Mild symptoms: Use SHAW walk-in rapid antigen COVID-19 testing from noon to 1 p.m. 
  • Severe symptoms: Make an appointment with a SHAW nurse immediately.
  • Confirmed exposure to a positive case: Contact SHAW for more guidance on follow-up testing. 

Other options include:

See Testing for more information and a calculator that can help you determine the appropriate use of testing.

COVID-19 Resources from Grinnell College

Campus News
What's Happening on Campus

  • Cinderella (Massenet) — Jan. 5, 2022 at 6 p.m.
  • Rigoletto (Verdi) — Jan. 29, 2022 at 11:55 a.m.
  • Ariadne Auf Naxos (R. Strauss) — March 12, 2022
  • Don Carlos (Verdi) — March 26, 2022 at 11 a.m.
  • Turandot (Puccini) — May 7, 2022 at 11:55 a.m.
  • Lucia Di Lammermoor (Donizetti) — May 25, 2022, at 6 p.m.
  • Hamlet (Dean) — June 4, 2022 at 11:55 a.m.

Grinnell College offers the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD at Harris Cinema. Tickets are free for students, faculty, and staff.

  • Nicol Turner-Lee: Jan. 27, 2022
  • Grinnell Lecture: Feb. 10, 2022
  • Jennifer Ho: March 3, 2022
  • Greg Duncan: March 10, 2022
  • Stephanie Jones: April 7, 2022
  • Kaushik Basu: April 14, 2022
  • Tim Eatman: April 21, 2022
  • Sam Wineburg: April 28, 2022
  • Phi Beta Kappa: May 5, 2022

Convocations are held Thursdays at 11 a.m. CT in Rosenfield Center, Room 101. Some will be available via Webex. Follow our public events series on Facebook for more information.

This spring's writers include:
  • Jeff Porter: Thursday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m.
  • Molly McCully Brown: Thursday, March 10, 8 p.m.
  • Riva Lehrer: Thursday, April 7, 8 p.m.
  • Jerald Walker: Wednesday, April 13, 8 p.m.
  • Terrance Hayes - Distinguished Author Reading: Thursday, April 21, 8 p.m.
  • Jean Guerrero - Armando (Mando) Montaño '12 Memorial Reading: Tuesday, April 26, 8 p.m.

Find more information and links for any that are offered online at Writers@Grinnell Events.
2021-22 Academic Calendar 
All dates are inclusive

Jan. 17
Martin Luther King Day

Jan. 22
Residence halls open

Jan. 24
First day of classes

Mar. 19
Spring break begins

Apr. 4
Classes resume
Grinnell College Museum of Art
Queer/Dialogue 
Closing December 12, 2021

GCMoA presents eight artists whose works enable dialogue at the intersections of identity expression — race, gender, individuality and otherness, equality within differences — with a focus on the body as expressive terrain. The online exhibition will continue to be available after the exhibition closes.
almosts square design of red and blue
Digital Vision Exhibition
Jan. 28 – April 10, 2022
 
Digital Vision brings together artists whose work examines technology in varied ways, providing insights about what technology means to us as humans, engaging tools that provide new opportunities to interpret information differently from the past. Artists include Bill Albertini, Matthew Kluber, Kate Petley, John Pomara, John F. Simon, Jr., Anne Spalter, and Jody Zellen. 
 
Digital Vision Conversation and Reception
Jan. 28, 4 p.m.

Join Director Susan Baley for the opening reception of Digital Vision. Professor Matthew Kluber will talk about the changes and challenges of digital methods in traditional visual practice and provide a tour of the exhibition. A reception will follow.
Attend the reception in person or online via Zoom, meeting ID: 881 8852 5829

Image: Matthew Kluber, Electr-O-Pura, 2015-2019. Alkyd on Alkyd on aluminum, custom software, computer, digital projection, 44x 96 in. Courtesy the artist and David Richard Gallery
Need-Based Financial Aid Application Process for 2022-23
The deadline for current domestic students to reapply for need-based financial aid for the 2022-23 academic year is April 1, 2022.

Requirements include:

Students should regularly check the Documents and Messages page of the online financial aid office (student login required) to see if additional documents are required.

Current international students are generally not required to submit documentation to reapply for financial aid.

More information can be found on the College's apply for aid webpage. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@grinnell.edu with any questions.
Independent Study and Mentored Advanced Research Deadlines
Jan. 28
Final applications for spring 297, 299, 387, 397, 399, 499 independent studies due from students studying off-campus or continuing MAP work from the previous semester.
Feb. 4
Students planning to do a summer MAP need to plan ahead so the faculty director can secure funding by this date.
Education Credit/IRS Form 1098-T
The College will be mailing paper copies of the 1098-T Tuition Statement on or before Jan. 31, 2022. Questions regarding eligibility for education credits should be directed to a tax professional.
 
Sign Up to Receive the Form Online 
On behalf of Grinnell College, Heartland ECSI provides the ability to easily access your 1098-T Tuition Statement online. 
 
The benefits of receiving electronic notification are:
  • You will have access to the 1098-T form earlier than through traditional mail.
  • You can eliminate the chance that the 1098-T will get lost, misdirected, or delayed during delivery, or misplaced once delivered.
  • Signing up for online delivery is easy and secure.
  • You can receive your 1098-T forms while traveling or away from home.
 
To consent to receive your 1098T form electronically, follow the simple instructions below to sign up by Jan. 1, 2022.
Student Account Billing Schedule for Spring 2022
Bills were available: Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021
Balances are due: Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021
Parents Facebook Group Co-Moderator Looks at Role Through Anthropological Lens
David Pollack is joined by his daughter Jianna Martin for a picture during a past vacation
When Martin Pollack ’22 and more than a dozen other Grinnell students decided to live together in a collab house in Utah during the pandemic, his father David was quite proud. 

“Martin was able to sort things out on his own and come up with a solution with his friends,” says David, the co-administrator of the Grinnell College Parents and Families Facebook group

Support Our Students
students labeling their plants
Parents and families play an integral role in supporting and enhancing their students' experiences.

We invite you to join in the stewardship efforts that sustain a distinctive Grinnell education. Learn more here.

It is no secret that 2021 has been an unprecedented year for all of us. As the fall term draws to a close, Grinnell students remain busy studying for finals and writing papers. During this season of giving, gifts of all sizes support Grinnell’s commitment to its students and to the change-makers and solution-seekers they are and will become.
 
There are a number of ways you can make a 2021 tax-deductible gift to Grinnell: 
  • Give right now using our smartphone-friendly online giving site. To be tax-deductible for 2021, your online transaction must be completed by 11:59 p.m. CST on Dec. 31, 2021.
  • Call 866-850-1846 toll-free weekdays through Dec. 23 (8 a.m.-5 p.m. CST), Dec. 28-30 (10 a.m.-2 p.m. CST) and Dec. 31 (10 a.m.- midnight. CST)
  • Mail a check to Grinnell College's Office of Development and Alumni Relations, 733 Broad St., Grinnell, IA 50112, dated and postmarked by Dec. 31, 2021.
  • Contribute appreciated securities to Grinnell and support the College while gaining valuable tax advantages. To make a gift by transferring stock or other appreciated securities, please refer to our Stock Transfer Instructions. Stock transfers need to be completed by Dec. 17, 2021, for 2021 tax purposes.

Start your journey along the Arc of Giving by supporting Grinnell with a gift today.
Arc of Giving
Keeping up with the Grinnellians
Keep up with what's happening in the Grinnell universe by following Grinnell's Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook accounts. 

To stay in touch with what's happening on campus, you can also view the school newspaper, the Scarlet and Black, online, and read The Grinnell Magazine.
Stay in Touch with the Center for Careers, Life, and Service
Stay connected and find out more about how the College's Center for Careers, Life, and Service empowers students and alumni to live, learn, and work with meaning and purpose:

Additional Family Resources
For more information and resources, visit the College's Families webpage, the Center for Careers, Life, and Service's Information and Resources for Parents and Families webpage, or reach out to Tina Popson '97, associate director of the Parents and Families Program within the Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
STAY CONNECTED: