COVID-19 Response: What's Now, What's Next

• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has issued a temporary order updating the reduced capacity limits for indoor and outdoor gatherings, effective Saturday, December 26. These new limits supersede the previously announced Phase 3, Step 1 rollback limitations. Unless further extended by the Governor, the order will remain in effect until January 10, 2021.
• Consistent with the Governor’s order, Brandeis will reduce non-classroom space capacities across campus from 40% to 25% occupancy (5 persons per 1,000 sq. ft.). This includes areas such as office and meeting rooms, art studios, the Library, and the Gosman gym. All other Brandeis requirements, policies, and protocols regarding access to these spaces remain the same. Research lab density is unaffected and remains at 40%.
• Brandeis meets or exceeds Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Environmental Protection Agency  guidelines for cleaning all types of space on campus including classrooms, study spaces, common areas, and residence halls, with a special focus on high-touch surfaces.
• Custodial staff clean and disinfect classrooms, common areas in all buildings including residence halls and dining facilities multiple times per day.
• Custodial staff clean high-touch areas, including door handles, railings, elevator buttons and bathroom fixtures multiple times per day.
• Students, faculty and staff members are expected to clean their work areas before and after each use with sanitizing wipes provided by the university.
• Cleaning supplies, including hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes dispensers, are available in classroom spaces, dining areas, study spaces, campus shuttles and other high-traffic areas to allow for self-cleaning.
• Workspace safety reviews were conducted in order to assist the schools, divisions and central groups in preparing safe work environments for their faculty, staff and students.
• Capital Programs staff installed safety modifications, such as Plexiglas barriers or furniture removal, to aid de-densification efforts in all front-facing, high-traffic workspaces on campus, including, for example, the library, Shapiro Admissions Center, and the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.
• Outdoor furniture like picnic tables, tents and chairs have been placed across campus to serve as additional common spaces and relieve the pressure on indoor common spaces, especially the library.
• Gathering size is currently limited to a maximum of 10 people indoors; 6 people in residence hall rooms. Organized events coordinated through University Events are limited to a maximum of 25 people indoors or outdoors. Gatherings in off-campus residences are also limited to 10 people (who are not members of the same household). Masks must be worn by all those in attendance. 

• If a staff member brings their own food or beverages to campus, it should neither require refrigeration nor warming up in a microwave.

• Break rooms are limited to only one person at a time. Staff is expected to limit time spent in a break room and wipe down/disinfect any areas they used when finished. Cleaning supplies have been placed in break rooms for this purpose; file a request with Facilities Services when additional supplies are needed.

• The Operations and Maintenance team has implemented several strategies for enhancing the performance of existing building air circulation systems so that they work as well as possible throughout the pandemic. Strategies include:

  • Increasing the frequency of regular maintenance, such as filter and prefilter changes and the cleaning of cooling coils.

  • conducting preventive maintenance, such as clearing airways and outside air intake plenums.

  • Upgrading MERV (minimum efficiency rating) level of filters.

  • Increasing the level of outside air entering buildings by running HVAC units at night, thereby increasing fresh air percentage to specific rooms.

  • Investigating and repairing deficiencies in HVAC equipment.

• Facilities Services has increased regular maintenance of its HVAC systems, performing preventative maintenance, upgrading the level of its air filters and adjusting HVAC systems to optimize fresh air intake.

• Facilities Services is monitoring and balancing the air circulation systems to prevent any airflow conditions that could increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

• Brandeis has installed public health signage and messaging in all campus buildings, including academic buildings and residence halls, to continually reinforce community expectations.

• Signs indicate room and elevator capacities with social distancing, one-way directions for stairways and hallways, and provide floor marks to show people where they can safely stand and sit.

• Markings have been placed on campus pathways and painted lawn circles in large open areas to encourage physical distancing.

• Signage at the entry to campus describes Brandeis' expectations for social solidarity related to public health guidelines.

• Facilities staff clean and sanitize residence halls daily.

• Cleaning materials (disinfecting wipes or equivalent) are widely available in residences for self-cleaning.

• Most rooms are singles, with limited double availability. There are no triples.

• Guests are not allowed in residence halls.
• Gatherings in residence halls are limited to no more than 6 people. As of Nov. 6, in accordance with statewide rules, masks must be worn at all times regardless of physical distance from others. Masks don't have to be worn if in room alone, or with roommate, or while sleeping. Eating with others indoor is not allowed.

Cleaning

• Custodial staff  deep clean and disinfect classrooms twice per weekday (an increase over the pre-COVID-19 norm of once daily).

• There are 30 minutes between each class to allow time for students and faculty to wipe their desk or work area. Faculty work areas include A/V cables and controls. Plentiful cleaning materials (disinfecting wipes or equivalent) have been placed in each classroom.

Seating

• In-person classes is limited to 29 people including the instructor and teaching assistants. Any class with more than 28 students is being delivered remotely, possibly with in-person smaller groups, to comply with state regulations and public health guidelines.

• Seat locations are marked to ensure a distance of 6 feet between students.

Instruction

• Each room layout includes a "teaching zone" at the front of the class to provide sufficient room for faculty to move about while maintaining a safe distance from the front row of students.

• Departments are providing each faculty member with a supply of chalk or whiteboard markers (as appropriate to each room) and erasers, so as to reduce the amount of communal equipment in use in the classroom. Faculty need to remember to bring those materials with them each day they teach.

• Faculty whose pedagogy includes asking students to write on the board should ask students to bring their own writing supplies as well.

Air Circulation

• Measures have been taken to optimize air circulation in classrooms include deficiency repairs; upgrading filter MERV (minimum efficiency rating) levels and increasing the frequency of filter changes; and increasing the level of outside air entering classrooms.

• As of Nov. 23, all dining options are take-out only. 
• For details about the Fall 2020 dining experience, please visit the dining website.

• Both Usdan and Sherman dining halls rely primarily on takeout food service, supplemented by certain retail locations. As of Nov. 6, seating in Upper Usdan will close at 9:30 p.m. Dining venues in that location will shift to takeout-only after 9:30 p.m.

• Seating is at significantly reduced capacity levels.

• Multiple health and safety measures are in place, including table and floor markings to provide for 6-foot distancing, limited seating capacity and hand-sanitizing stations.

• Students may socialize and eat outdoors with more than one person if they maintain social distancing. Eating with others in the same room indoors is not permitted.

• Masks may be removed to eat. When consuming a beverage, students should pull down their mask to quickly take a drink, but do not fully remove it. This way, the student can quickly and easily place their mask back over both their nose and mouth.

• Dining Services and Sodexo have expanded hours of operations to accommodate de-densification in the dining halls by possibly utilizing nearby common spaces.

• Pre-ordering meals is available through a mobile app for retail venues to help facilitate prepayment and the timely pickup of orders while reducing touchpoints.

The Gosman Sports and Convocation Center and other athletic facilities, indoor and outdoor, is open to currently active students, faculty and staff. Students on a leave of absence and guests are not allowed to use the facilities. Memberships are also not permitted.

Masks/face coverings and physical distancing are required. Gym users must familiarize themselves with Gosman’s COVID-19 policies before entering. As of Nov. 6, Gosman will close at 9:30 p.m.

Anyone coming to campus to use the athletic facilities (or for any other reason) must present their Brandeis ID, and must also have completed Brandeis' mandatory safety training for faculty and staff or for students. In addition, they must take Brandeis' Daily Health Assessment and sign up for COVID-19 testing, and be prepared to show proof (either on their phone or via a printout) that they cleared the daily health assessment that day.

• Training: Before coming to campus, all community members must complete a Brandeis’ online COVID-19 training course in LATTE. This step is completed once, before your first arrival.
• Daily Health Assessment: All individuals living on or arriving to campus must complete a Daily Health Assessment each day, prior to arriving to campus (or leaving their residence) to screen for potential exposure to or infection by COVID-19. This only needs to be completed if you are coming to (or residing on) campus.
• Testing: All Brandeis community members who come to campus are required to submit samples for testing. Testing frequency is based on how many times one expects to come to campus each week. Upon submission of a sample, you will have 84 hours until your next test is due.
•  Community members should self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 which at this point include one or more of the following:
  • Fever or chills
  • Cough
  • Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle or body aches
  • Headache
  • New loss of taste or smell
  • Sore throat
  • Congestion or runny nose
  • Nausea or vomiting
  • Diarrhea

• COVID-19 Testing Procedures
• FAQs: COVID-19 Testing at Brandeis
• For a description of Brandeis’ pilot testing program, visit BrandeisNOW.

To help determine the risk of potential exposure to others, university health officials are conducting contact tracing for any individual who tests positive through Brandeis' asymptomatic testing program. All members of the community spending time on campus this fall should be prepared to take calls from our contact tracing team and abide by any recommendations they provide, such as quarantining, if you are determined to be a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. 

As of Nov. 6, under new state rules, if you host a gathering, and an attendee or worker tests positive, you are required to cooperate with contact tracing. Failure to do so may result in a $500 fine per violation. 

Brandeis has built flexibility into all of its fall 2020 plans, so that our students, faculty and staff can transition to remote work should conditions warrant it. The university's decision to transition to remote-only operations will be based on the following:

• Local, state, or national shelter-in-place advisories or restrictions that require remote-only operations.

• Exceeding quarantine and isolation capacity for the residential population.

• A surge in cases, coupled with increased severity of illness among campus demographic cohorts.

• Contact tracing analysis (a surge in cases tied to an event, for example, may be treated differently than one tied to rampant community spread with severe illness).

• Brandeis has made accommodations for high-risk individuals to teach and attend classes and, where feasible, work remotely. Faculty and staff can refer to Requesting an Accommodation for Working on Campus for more information.

• According to the CDC, these include but are not limited to individuals with chronic lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, serious health conditions, immunocompromised conditions, severe obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and liver disease, and those who are over the age of 65.

• Any students who have health concerns or face travel restrictions are able to register for remote instruction instead of in-person classes without needing to seek permission or accommodations. Although students living on or near campus will be encouraged to register for in-person or partially in-person classes, they may also register for remote-instruction courses.

Above all else, the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff has guided planning for Brandeis athletics in the fall semester. The Gosman Sports and Convocation Center is open for recreational use, with restrictions.

As of Nov. 6, in accordance with state rules, Gosman will close at 9:30 p.m., from Sunday to Thursday nights.

Competitive club sports and team-based intramurals will be suspended for the fall semester, but outdoor athletics facilities, including the track and tennis courts are available for use subject to applicable safety guidelines. The Gosman Sports and Athletic Center is open for exercise and recreation, with restrictions.

The Gosman Sports and Convocation Center and other athletic facilities, indoor and outdoor, is open to currently active students, faculty and staff. Students on a leave of absence and guests are not allowed to use the facilities. Memberships are also not permitted.

Masks/face coverings and physical distancing are required. Gym users must familiarize themselves with Gosman’s COVID-19 policies before entering. As of Nov. 6, in accordance with statewide rules, Gosman will close at 9:30 p.m., Sunday to Thursday. 

The Gosman Center will be closed Dec. 19, 2020, through Jan. 3, 2021. When it reopens, Gosman will operate with reduced occupancy to align with the state's new temporary order reducing capacity limits for indoor and outdoor gatherings. 

Anyone coming to campus to use the athletic facilities (or for any other reason) must present their Brandeis ID, and must also have completed Brandeis' mandatory safety training for faculty and staff or for students. In addition, they must take Brandeis' Daily Health Assessment and sign up for COVID-19 testing, and be prepared to show proof (either on their phone or via a printout) that they cleared the daily health assessment that day.

Brandeis Athletics has suspended all intercollegiate athletics through Dec. 31, 2020. The suspension includes both the fall varsity athletics season as well as winter seasons that begin during the fall semester (men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s track and field).

Although Brandeis will not compete in any games or competition prior to Jan. 1, 2021, the department will continue to explore ways for our student-athletes to remain engaged in meaningful athletic activity, which may include small-group practices, skill development, strength and conditioning, and professional development opportunities.

Later this fall, Brandeis will reassess the viability of participating in intercollegiate competition in 2021. Additional updates will be shared with the Brandeis community as soon as they become available.

• For graduate and undergraduate students: Travel will be limited, once living on or coming to campus, to the greater Boston area (within Route 495). In case of an emergency that requires a student to travel beyond this boundary, it will be necessary for the student to notify the Dean of Students Office and follow Massachusetts state guidelines regarding COVID-19 travel quarantine upon return to campus.
• Students who are not coming to campus for Fall 2020 should be aware of and abide by the travel restrictions specific to where they are living.

• The university encourages all Brandeis community members to limit personal travel as much as possible.

• Domestic (United States) travel: All University-related non-essential domestic travel is suspended. In addition, we strongly urge extreme caution and judgment for your personal domestic travel (and, as stated above, students must receive permission from the Dean of Students). Massachusetts is now requiring travelers from out of state, including those returning home, to quarantine for 14 days after out-of-state travel. The only exceptions are individuals traveling from lower-risk states as designated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. These states change frequently and it is the responsibility of individuals to check to see if the state they wish to visit is on the list.
  

  Massachusetts requires all travelers from outside of exempted states to fill out a form; the state penalty for violating the quarantine order is $500.

  Students, faculty and staff spending time on the Brandeis campus are all required to participate in free, high-frequency COVID-19 testing; these tests are considered valid by Massachusetts for lifting quarantine.

  If you have traveled outside any of the exempted states, you may come onto campus ONLY for a scheduled COVID-19 test, until the results of that test are negative.

  International travel: All international travel is suspended on Brandeis business or with Brandeis programs, for all faculty, students, postdocs and staff. This includes any travel associated with one’s scholarly activities as a Brandeis employee, even travel funded by a government grant, foundation, company or another university. Rare exceptions to this policy will be considered, but the request must be made in writing to the Provost.

  We strongly discourage any personal international travel but if you do we request that you fill out this form. This information will be used for the purpose of advising you on your return to campus. Under current Massachusetts guidelines, upon returning from international travel, you will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus. 

  Study abroad and international student exchange programs are suspended for the fall 2020 semester.

No. We recommend the use of cloth, reusable, washable face coverings. Some people may be unable to wear a snug mask due to medical conditions and could use a looser bandana style covering as needed.

Members of the community are expected to provide their own masks. In case of circumstances where an individual temporarily does not have a mask, such as forgetting to wear one or losing it, Brandeis will have extras available. Masks are for sale at the bookstore.

All students (graduate, undergraduate, on-campus, off campus) are required to take Brandeis’ online COVID-19 training course in LATTE. If a student is coming to campus, they must complete the course prior to the first time they come to campus. If they are taking all courses remotely, they must complete the course prior to the start of classes on Aug. 26.

Yes. Brandeis has set aside rooms for quarantine and isolation for students living in residence halls on campus who test positive for or become symptomatic with COVID-19. These students will be supported throughout their quarantine or isolation by the Department of Community Living, Dining Services and the University Health Center. Students living off campus should have a plan for quarantining or isolating in their off-campus residence; the university is not able to deliver food off-campus.

Full information and statistics on Brandeis' testing program and test results can be found on the Brandeis COVID-19 Dashboard.

Brandeis has built flexibility into all of its fall 2020 plans, so that our students, faculty and staff can transition to remote work should conditions warrant it. The university's decision to transition to remote-only operations will be based on the following:

• Local, state, or national shelter-in-place advisories or restrictions that require remote-only operations
• Exceeding quarantine and isolation capacity for the residential population
• A surge in cases, coupled with increased severity of illness among campus demographic cohorts
• Contact tracing analysis (a surge in cases tied to an event, for example, may be treated differently than one tied to rampant community spread with severe illness)