Announcing new ad hoc Committee on Covid and Campus Life Policies

Dear Williams Community,

As we enter our sixth week of COVID testing, we can be pleased that the number of cases on campus has remained relatively low. Thanks to everyone for doing your part to keep our community safe. I am so grateful for your collective commitment to this project. I know we can count on each other to continue the momentum throughout the rest of the semester.

As we monitor conditions on campus and in the surrounding region, I have decided to create an ad hoc Committee on Covid and Campus Life Policies that will be tasked with reviewing our policies around COVID. The group will monitor conditions on campus and off, and make recommendations about policy changes in light of those conditions. Dean Marlene Sandstrom will chair the group, which will also make recommendations regarding campus policies for the spring 2021 semester, as we begin to consider the work involved in opening the campus for a second term.

This committee will complement the work of the Calendar and Scheduling Committee, which is currently working on determining the spring schedule, including opening date, changes to college breaks, and other related issues; and the Committee on Educational Affairs, which is working with the offices of the Dean of the Faculty and the Dean of the College to determine relevant information regarding the course catalog; pre-registration, registration and related matters.

The new committee’s full membership is listed below. We have also created a portal where you can submit questions and input for the group’s consideration. My thanks to everyone in the group for their participation, and to everyone on campus for supporting the work.

Sincerely,

Maud

Wunmi Awelewa ’22, student representative, MinCo
Christopher Bolton, member of the Faculty Steering Committee and Professor of Comparative and Japanese Literature
Danielle Gonzalez, Director of Human Resources
Eden-Reneé Hayes, Director of the Davis Center
Leticia Smith-Evans Haynes ’99, Vice President for Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Adam Jones ’21, student representative from TABLE
Aria Mason ’21, student representative from TABLE
Fred Puddester, Vice President for Finance and Administration
Marlene Sandstrom (chair), Dean of the College and Hales Professor of Psychology
Douglas Schiazza, Senior Associate Dean of Campus Life
Christopher Sewell ’05, Associate Dean of Students and Dean of First Year Students
Mathew Sheehy, Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration
Julia Tucher ’21, student representative, JA
Tara Watson, chair of the Faculty Steering Committee and Professor of Economics
Safa Zaki, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Psychology