Welcome Back and Reentry Guidance
January 28, 2022
Dear colleagues,
I write to welcome you back for the spring 2022 semester. I am delighted that I will have an opportunity to see many of you on campus. I have some information that I hope eases everyone’s transition.
I know that coming back to campus will be difficult for many of our faculty, students, and staff. So many among us have been ill and have experienced unimaginable loss. This will require all of us to be as helpful as we can to all members of our community, so that we can once again thrive. Please let me know how I can assist you in making your transition back to campus easier.
The following resources may be helpful to you as you plan for your first days in the classroom.
- Our college website includes a virtual front desk with contact information for all student service offices.
- Tips for Cultivating a Trauma-Informed Higher Education Classroom at the Beginning of Each Semester
- Trauma-Informed Teaching & Learning Online: Principles and Practices During a Global Health Crisis (pdf)
- Trauma-Informed Teaching & Learning principles (pdf)
- The Single Most Essential Requirement in Designing a Fall Online Course
- The Brooklyn College Guide to Online Pedagogy also has a comprehensive module on Trauma-informed Pedagogy.
There’s some other information that I think will be helpful.
- For all details about reentry, please visit the College’s Returning Safely Together webpage. Masking is required on campus. There are updates to this semester. Of particular importance is the new masking policy: masks may not be removed when lecturing.
- The Reentry Review Board (RRB) will continue its work this semester. Face-to-face meetings with faculty, students, and staff are permissible. Your department may decide how it elects to hold meetings and should accommodate faculty and staff who have not yet returned full-time to campus.
- If you plan any in-person convenings with external guests, however, please submit a proposal to me for RRB review a month before the event. Any guest must be up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccinations to enter campus. Currently, food and drink are not permitted in face-to-face meetings of any kind.
- The Reentry Review Board’s Specialized Guidance for Instruction (pdf) for this semester has been developed to address the current NYC COVID-19 climate. To safeguard the health and safety of our community, all faculty are required to follow the guidelines.
Next week I will post on my office’s webpage a link to the hours and locations of all Academic Affairs offices. I hope this will help you navigate the campus during this period of transition. You also will see my own office hours there.
I very much look forward to seeing you and hearing more about how I can assist you this semester.
With all best regards,
Anne
Anne Lopes
Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs
