First years explore dorm communities through SCUFFY
MIT’s ten dorms and the five cultural houses within New House held 173 virtual events for first years Aug. 23–30 in a period called Exploring Support Communities (ESC), including movie nights, game nights, and Q&A sessions.
First quarter PE classes, Quarantine Week, registration day
Seniors may register for first quarter PE classes starting 8 a.m. Thursday. All other undergraduates may register for first quarter PE classes starting 8 a.m. Friday.
First week of full campus COVID-19 testing plagued by long lines
Wait times averaged 45–60 minutes Aug. 17 and Aug 18. Average wait times decreased to under 15 minutes Aug. 26. Overall, they have averaged 15–20 minutes, Stuopis wrote in an email to The Tech.
Undergraduates returning to campus during fall to participate in mandatory Quarantine Week
During Q-Week, students “cannot have direct contact with anyone else, including prospective podmates,” and may only leave their rooms to “use their assigned bathroom,” “get packages or meals,” or exercise outdoors.
Nergis Mavalvala PhD ’97 becomes Dean of Science
Mavalvala shared her three main priorities for the School of Science: to push forward MIT’s scientific research and interdisciplinary collaboration, promote diversity and inclusion in science, and improve career development pathways for the school’s staff.
Diane B. Greene SM ’78 elected as incoming Chair of the MIT Corporation
Greene is the first woman elected to chair the MIT Corporation, an organization of 78 members from academia and industry who serve as MIT’s board of trustees. She succeeds Robert B. Millard ’73, who has served as Chairman since 2014.
Departments remove GRE requirements for 2020–2021 graduate admissions cycle
Educational Testing Service, the organization that administers the GRE, announced Aug. 20 that the September and October GRE Subject Test administrations “have been canceled due to impacts from the pandemic” and that “the next opportunity to take a Subject Test — assuming health conditions improve — will be April 2021.”
MIT enters Phase 2 of reopening
MIT has also initiated regular COVID-19 testing for “everyone who accesses campus.” Compliance with testing requirements is mandatory for maintaining campus access.
Undergraduates abroad Fall 2020 will not be paid for hourly wage jobs
Waitz wrote that MIT can only pay undergraduates living abroad by stipend and not hourly wages due to “international tax and compliance issues.”
FSILGs adapt recruitment to virtual semester
The Interfraternity Council (IFC) will postpone formal recruitment until spring while the Panhellenic Association (Panhel) will hold virtual recruitment in the fall.
New Title IX policy includes cross-examination during hearing, required by federal regulations
The new procedure, in compliance with federal regulations, requires that formal Title IX complaints be addressed in a live hearing, chaired by outside legal professionals and including cross-examinations of the complainant, respondent, and witnesses.
Fall Emergency Academic Regulations discourage use of third-party online proctoring
According to the regulations, the “statement of required work” must contain a list of assignments, an “approximate” schedule with test dates and deadlines, final examination information, and grading criteria.
First-Year Orientation, FPOPs to be held virtually
Incoming first years will “meet with their first year advisor throughout the week to discuss academic options” and register for classes.
MIT presents reopening plans at Cambridge City Council committee meeting
Gallop described MIT’s plans as “cautious and conservative” and “aligned with guidance” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MIT becomes only QuestBridge partner with non-binding admission
For all QuestBridge partners but MIT, students are required to attend their match school. The other three schools that had non-binding policies last year — Princeton, Stanford, and Yale — recently changed their policies to be binding.
Massachusetts implements COVID-19 travel order for out-of-state visitors
MIT Medical Director Cecilia Stuopis wrote in an email to The Tech that the travel order will not affect the move-in process for students returning to campus since the Institute “had already planned for all students to be tested upon returning to campus.”
2.009 to be replaced with abridged 2.s009 in Fall 2020
2.s009 will “follow an abbreviated version of the product development process used in 2.009,” and “teams will develop products inspired by a very open-ended theme,” the department wrote.
DSL releases Fall 2020 on-campus COVID-19 policies
Pods will allow groups of up to six students in the same residence hall “to socialize in certain settings that do not require 6 feet physical distancing” or face coverings.
87 first-year students opt for gap year
“Typically, between 10 and 15 students will defer in a given year,” Schmill wrote in the email, but given the “higher than expected number of admitted students” who chose to accept their offers of admission, the Class of 2024 will end up being of “similar size to other classes.”
Advanced Standing Exams and math diagnostic to be administered online using proctoring software
Fall ASEs and the math diagnostic typically take place on campus during orientation week. Rajagopal wrote that the decision to move the exam dates up was to ensure the start of the semester was “less hectic for students.”