CBE Intranet

Back to School Memo from the Dean

Dear CBE students,

We are excited to welcome you to campus this autumn as we return to in-person instruction! Collaboration and being together in community are hallmarks of our college and our University. Coming back together in person with appropriate safeguards in place is consistent with our commitment to 1) protect the health and safety of the community, 2) center our students by doing our best to provide quality education and learning, and 3) promote equity in our practices and policies.

Because, unlike last year, classes will not as a default be available for synchronous remote viewing or participation, it is very important that if you have circumstances limiting your ability to attend in-person classes regularly, you request an accommodation, as detailed below, to participate without being in-person during autumn 2021. Please note that given our commitment to in-person active learning such as studio and lab work means that there will be many classes for which we will not be able to offer remote learning. Critical information about eligibility, instructions, and deadlines for requesting accommodations is provided at the end of this document. In addition, if you need to temporarily quarantine or isolate per CDC guidance and/or campus policy, notify your instructors by email as soon as possible AND notify Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S). Under these circumstances, your instructors will make all course materials, including lecture recordings where possible, available to you. You will not be penalized for not participating in class in person on days when you are isolating or in quarantine.

To prepare for your safe return to campus, please be sure to:

  • Familiarize yourself with the campus-wide mask policy and abide by it. 
  • Get fully vaccinated before you arrive on campus. 
      If you cannot get fully vaccinated before you arrive on campus, check the UW’s Autumn 2021 website for more information about where and how to get vaccinated once you arrive.
  • Complete your COVID vaccine attestation as soon as possible.
  • Determine if you will need to quarantine and/or get tested for COVID when you arrive.
    • If you are returning to campus from out of state or abroad, you may need to quarantine before attending orientation or classes. Please check the CDC’s Domestic and International travel pages for the latest recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers and schedule your travel such that your quarantine will be completed before the start of the quarter.
    • Check the UW’s Autumn 2021 website for more information about testing on campus.

Please consider your academic program advisors as your main source of information and support but also feel free to reach out to me or your department chair directly if you have any questions or concerns. 

We look forward to welcoming you back!

Yours,

​​College of Built Environments Academic Leadership

Renée Cheng, Dean; Christopher Campbell, Chair, Urban Design and Planning; Sofia Dermisi, Acting Chair, Runstad Department of Real Estate; Carrie Sturts Dossick, Associate Dean for Research; Giovanni Migliaccio, Chair, Construction Management; Vikram Prakash, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Kate Simonen, Chair, Architecture; Ken Yocom, Chair, Landscape Architecture

 

Information for CBE Students Requesting Accommodations

You may be eligible for an accommodation administered by the Disability Resources for Students (DRS) to take classes remotely if you are a student who is:

  1. Immunocompromised
  2. Experiencing other diagnosed physical or mental health conditions that preclude you from participating in class in person during the pandemic.

If you think you may qualify for any type of formal accommodation, we encourage you to visit the  Disability Resources for Students (DRS)  and apply by completing the necessary steps as soon as possible, we recommend before August 20, 2021. 

Please note that it can take 4-6 weeks to get approvals through DRS, so you need to submit any requests well in advance of the beginning of the quarter to have the best outcome. While you are not required to do so, we strongly encourage students to submit both a request to DRS and simultaneously inform your department academic advisor. 

If your request to DRS for accommodation is approved, DRS will directly notify your instructors (in addition to you) to let them know of your accommodations.

Your department chair and advisor are all happy to be of assistance as you navigate the formal accommodation process.

Situations Not Covered by DRS Accommodation 

If you are a student who is:

  1. Living full time with someone who is immunocompromised OR
  2. Unable to travel to the US because you are unable to obtain a visa

Unfortunately, neither situation qualifies you to be considered for remote learning accommodations. Students who are living full time with an individual who is immunocompromised are not eligible for a workplace accommodation through DSO since it does not relate to their own medical condition. CBE is investing in the primary mode of in-person teaching for all classes, including active learning such as studios and hands-on, our ability to provide remote options are limited to those with approved DRS or those quarantining according to CDC and UW guidance. We want to support our students to the very best of our ability. Please keep your academic advisor informed if any of these policies do not work for you; we may not be able to solve the problem, but the more we know the better we are able to develop options. In some cases, the best option for a student may be to request a leave if they are unable to continue or complete course work. Students should work with academic advisers to determine if this is an appropriate path for them.

 

 

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