Informational: Travel and Visitor Policy Reminder
Oct. 21, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
Since March, we have developed a range of health and safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as detailed most recently in our Plans for Fall 2020 website and in our Phase 2 Campus Scaling Up guidelines (pdf).
Thanks to the efforts of Brandeis community members to follow these guidelines, we have been able to progress more than halfway through our fall semester without ramping down fall campus activities from the original plan. Today, I am writing to highlight and remind you of two of these policies: our Travel Policy and our Visitor Policy.
Travel
Since March, all university-related, nonessential domestic travel is suspended. All international travel is also suspended for any Brandeis business or with Brandeis programs, for all faculty, students, postdocs and staff. Study abroad and international student-exchange programs are suspended for the fall 2020 semester and the spring 2021 semester.
These restrictions apply to 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. Keep in mind that prior authorization by the provost must be submitted to Procurement along with your travel claim for reimbursement by the university (or any sponsored account) for any travel-related expenses; unauthorized travel will not be reimbursed.
With the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I know that some of you may have out-of-state personal travel plans. Faculty and staff who travel outside Massachusetts will need to follow Massachusetts guidance on travel upon your return. Travelers returning to Massachusetts from COVID-19 lower-risk states are not required to fill out the Massachusetts Travel Form and do not need to quarantine.
Please note that this list of lower-risk states changes frequently. If you return to Massachusetts from a non-low-risk state, you will need to quarantine until you receive a negative test result. Faculty and staff may come to campus for a COVID-19 test and should quarantine away from campus until you receive your result.
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, you will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus.
Visitors
Brandeis University maintains a strict no-visitor policy. Exceptions to this policy will be considered and must be made to Provost Lisa Lynch, for academic visitors, or to Executive Vice President Stewart Uretsky, for campus and administrative visitors, via the COVID-19 Campus Visitor Exception Request Form (pdf, UNet login req.).
All visitors will be expected to comply with Brandeis University's COVID-19 Campus Visitor Health and Safety Requirements, and must have on file with the designated campus host a signed COVID-19 Campus Visitor Agreement (pdf) and a COVID-19 Waiver of Liability (pdf). If traveling to Brandeis from out of state, visitors must provide documentation of compliance with the current Massachusetts COVID-19 Travel Order to the Designated Campus Host prior to arrival on the Brandeis campus.
Our ability to offer an in-person educational experience to students, keep our campus resources available to our community of scholars and continue to promote a safe campus for all depends on each of us recognizing that our actions on and off campus have potential impacts for others in our community. I am most grateful for your continued social solidarity to keep Brandeis safe and healthy by your adherence to these policies.
Sincerely,
Lisa M. Lynch
Provost