Announcement canceling classes the week of March 23-27 – March 11, 2020

Dear FSU Community,

As you may be aware, yesterday afternoon Governor Charlie Baker held a press conference declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts as a result of the COVID-19 coronavirus. We are continuing to monitor and respond to these developments with guidance from state and federal officials, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Out of an abundance of caution, Framingham State will be canceling classes the week following Spring Break, with courses resuming on Monday, March 30. Students will need to leave residence halls as previously planned by 6 p.m. on Friday, March 13 and may return to campus beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 29. (Students who were previously scheduled to remain on campus in Linsley Hall through Spring Break are still able to stay).

We have established a process to allow students to petition to return to residence halls on March 22 if they do not have a safe place to go or if they need to be located locally for work or academic reasons. We will make determinations on a case-by-case basis.

The campus will otherwise remain open and all faculty and staff should continue their regular work schedules the week of March 23-27.

During the extra week that students will be off, we will have additional time to clean residence halls, including “touch” surfaces, and common areas on campus. We will also be working with faculty to prepare for the possibility of a shift to remote learning alternatives. We want to assure everyone that we will do everything in our power to provide you with an opportunity to complete your coursework for the semester. As students prepare to leave for Spring Break, they should consider bringing home any belongings they would need in the event that we do move to remote learning.

In addition to the above, the following policies will go into effect for at least the next 30 days:

• All work-related travel, both foreign and domestic, is to be discontinued until further notice. This means that athletic teams and campus clubs and organizations will not travel over Spring Break, as previously scheduled. Additionally, faculty and staff cannot travel for conferences or meetings, although they may participate in meetings if they are held remotely or virtually.
• The University will be canceling or postponing all large gatherings on campus. We will revisit large gatherings in the coming weeks based on evolving conditions and guidance from state and national agencies.

We do not take any of these measures lightly. Our highest priority is to keep all members of our community safe. We will continue to provide you with details on how we will move forward as this situation continues to develop. Please continue to visit our COVID-19 webpage regularly for the latest information.

Javier