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Coronavirus' Impact on CICS Events & Visitors - March 6, 2020

CICS Faculty, Students, and Staff: 

With several universities and colleges releasing new Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines and restrictions over the weekend, a few members of our community have asked when or if UMass Amherst is going to release additional guidance. 

At this hour, the University has not released additional information beyond what was included in the Chancellor's March 4th email. In addition to other important updates, this email includes information about restrictions on international travel for university students and employees: "In accordance with the Governor's request, we are canceling university-organized international trips for student groups until further notice. We are also banning university-approved travel for faculty, staff and students to CDC Level 3 countries (currently China, South Korea, Iran and Italy), and are otherwise following CDC guidelines. Requests for university-approved travel to Level 2 countries (Japan) are discouraged and will require case-by-case approval. These precautions are in addition to the previous steps we have taken to cancel programs and recall students from studies in China, South Korea and Italy; and require a 2-week self-quarantine for anyone returning from a CDC Level 3 country." For now, classes, events, and exams are still being held as scheduled, but please watch for announcements in case the situation changes--I have asked members of our faculty and staff to prepare in case we need to cancel CICS-sponsored events. In the meantime, I encourage you to monitor the University's Corononavirus information website, use common sense health precautions (waving, bumping fists, or bowing instead of shaking hands are my personal favorites), and be on the lookout for additional emails from the University on this topic. 

Laura Haas 
Dean