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COVID-19 Study Abroad Email Communications

Week of May 17. 2021

MAY 20, 2021

UPDATE: DICKINSON IN SPAIN FALL '21/ACADEMIC YEAR 21-22 PROGRAM

Dear students,  

We are writing you today with an important update about the Dickinson in Spain Fall 2021 semester and Academic Year 2021-2022 program. Please read this email in its entirety.  

After careful review of the current situation in Spain, the College has approved the program to proceed. We are all very excited by this decision and a return to study abroad. 

How the decision was made 

As with all of our decisions about study abroad, we are prioritizing the health and safety of our students and host communities all over the world as well as the ability to deliver a high-quality academic program.  The decision for Spain fall 2021/AY 21-22 was made at the same time as the Spain summer 2021 program. We will be making decisions about other fall 2021/AY 21-22 programs in the coming weeks. These decisions will be made program by program.

The College has been guided by information from the following sources: 

  • Brown Global Epidemics  

  • Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 

  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) 

  • The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

  • The US Department of State (DOS) 

  • In country faculty/staff perspective 

Please note that due to COVID-19, the State Department has recently given Spain a Level 4 Travel Advisory.  They made this update to Spain, as well as to an additional 114 countries, in order to align better with CDC COVID assessments and for most countries, and with Spain specifically, it does not reflect a worsening of circumstances in the country.  Taking all of the above sources together, along with consulting with travel risk specialists and other institutions and organizations, we determined the program could proceed.   

What’s next? 

Although the program has been approved to go forward, due to the Travel Advisory and COVID-19, we will need you to do two things over the next few days before committing to participate in the program. 

  1. There will be a mandatory meeting for all participants on Wednesday, May 26 at 10am EDT.  Below is the zoom link. The program will have some modifications, and we need to make sure everyone knows what to expect and understands the shared risks involved. We encourage you to invite your family members to join this meeting so you can make an informed decision together. If you are unable to attend, please email me ASAP to arrange a make-up session. 

Join Zoom meeting

  1. Review the student community compact and special waiver (attached) and send the signed waiver back to me.

Confirming your participation 

After Wednesday’s meeting, if you still plan to participate in the program, you must recommit to the program by completing the following steps by June 2, 2021

  • Sign the Student community compact and special waiver (attached) and email the signed document to Marissa Mitchell (mitchmar@dickinson.edu)

  • Pay your non-refundable confirmation deposit (instructions in your application portal

  • If you have not done so already, get the COVID-19 vaccine and upload proof of vaccination to the Dickinson patient portal or email it to health@dickinson.edu. You must be fully vaccinated before the start of the program (you are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna and 2 weeks after the single-dose of Johnson & Johnson). 

On the other hand, we understand that these modifications and expectations may impact some students’ decision to study abroad. Therefore, you will have until June 2, 2021 to notify the CGSE that you no longer wish to participate in the program, and we will withdraw your application without any financial penalty.   

If you have any additional questions between now and Wednesday’s meeting, please do not hesitate to reach out.  Please note that this information will also be sent to your emergency contacts on file. 
 


UPDATE: DICKINSON IN ICELAND GIS PROGRAM

Dear students,  

We are writing you today with an important update about the Dickinson in Iceland GIS program. Please read this email in its entirety. 

After careful review of the current situation in Iceland, the College has approved the program to proceed. We are all very excited by this decision and a return to study abroad. 

How the decision was made 

As with all of our decisions about study abroad, we are prioritizing the health and safety of our students and host communities all over the world as well as the ability to deliver a high-quality academic program.  

The College has been guided by information from the following sources: 

  • Brown Global Epidemics  

  • Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 

  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) 

  • The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

  • The US Department of State (DOS) 

  • In country faculty/staff perspective 

Please note that due to COVID-19, the State Department has recently given Iceland a Level 3 Travel Advisory. They made this update to Iceland, as well as travel advisory updates to an additional 114 countries, in order to align better with CDC COVID assessments and for most countries, and with Iceland specifically, it does not reflect a worsening of circumstances in the country. Taking all of the above sources together, along with consulting with travel risk specialists and other institutions and organizations, we determined the program could proceed.   

What’s next? 

Although the program has been approved to go forward, due to the Travel Advisory and COVID-19, we will need you to do 3 things over the next few days before committing to participate in the program. 

1) There will be a mandatory meeting for all participants on Wednesday, May 26th from 4:00pm-5:30pm EST. Below is the zoom link. The program will have some modifications, and we need to make sure everyone knows what to expect and understands the shared risks involved. We encourage you to invite your family members to join this meeting so you can make an informed decision together. If you are unable to attend, please email me ASAP to arrange a make-up session. 

Join Zoom Meeting

2) Review a special waiver that discusses both the travel advisory and COVID-19. This waiver is in the attached PDF, so you have a chance to review and formulate any questions before the meeting.

3) Review a community compact that outlines expectations for all participants. This is also provided in the attached PDF.

Confirming your participation 

After Wednesday’s meeting, if you still plan to participate in the program, you must recommit to the program by completing the following steps by the end of the day Tuesday, June 1st:

  • Sign the waiver and email the signed document to Stephanie Gulden: guldens@dickinson.edu

  • Sign the community compact and email the signed document to Stephanie Gulden: guldens@dickinson.edu

  • Pay your non-refundable confirmation deposit (instructions in your application portal

  • If you have not done so already, get the COVID-19 vaccine and upload proof of vaccination to the Dickinson patient portal or email it to health@dickinson.edu. You must be fully vaccinated before the start of the program (you are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna and 2 weeks after the dose of Johnson & Johnson). 

On the other hand, we understand that these modifications and expectations may impact some students’ decision to study abroad. Therefore, you will have until the end of the day Tuesday, June 1st to notify the CGSE that you no longer wish to participate in the program, and we will withdraw your application without any financial penalty.   

If you have any additional questions between now and Wednesday’s meeting, please do not hesitate to reach out.  Please note that this information will also be sent to your emergency contacts on file.


MAY 19, 2021

UPDATE: DICKINSON IN SPAIN SUMMER '21 PROGRAM

Dear students,  

We are writing you today with an important update about the Dickinson in Spain Summer 2021 program. Please read this email in its entirety.  

After careful review of the current situation in Spain, the College has approved the program to proceed. We are all very excited by this decision and a return to study abroad. 

How the decision was made 

As with all of our decisions about study abroad, we are prioritizing the health and safety of our students and host communities all over the world as well as the ability to deliver a high-quality academic program.

The College has been guided by information from the following sources: 

  • Brown Global Epidemics  

  • Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 

  • The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control 

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) 

  • The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

  • The US Department of State (DOS) 

  • In country faculty/staff perspective 

Please note that due to COVID-19, the State Department has recently given Spain a Level 4 Travel Advisory. They made this update to Spain, as well as to an additional 114 countries, in order to align better with CDC COVID assessments and for most countries, and with Spain specifically, it does not reflect a worsening of circumstances in the country. Taking all of the above sources together, along with consulting with travel risk specialists and other institutions and organizations, we determined the program could proceed.   

What’s next? 

Although the program has been approved to go forward, due to the Travel Advisory and COVID-19, we will need you to do 3 things over the next few days before committing to participate in the program. 

1) There will be a mandatory meeting for all participants on Friday, May 21st from 10:30am-12:00pm EST. Below is the zoom link.  The program will have some modifications, and we need to make sure everyone knows what to expect and understands the shared risks involved. We encourage you to invite your family members to join this meeting so you can make an informed decision together. If you are unable to attend, please email me ASAP to arrange a make-up session. 

Join Zoom Meeting

2) Review a special waiver that discusses both the travel advisory and COVID-19. This waiver will be provided to you before the meeting, so you have a chance to formulate questions.

3) Review a community compact that outlines expectations for all participants. This will also be provided to you before the meeting.

Confirming your participation 

After Friday’s meeting, if you still plan to participate in the program, you must recommit to the program by completing the following steps by the end of the day Thursday, May 27th:

  • Sign the waiver and email the signed document to Stephanie Gulden: guldens@dickinson.edu

  • Sign the community compact and email the signed document to Stephanie Gulden: guldens@dickinson.edu

  • Pay your non-refundable confirmation deposit (instructions in your application portal

  • If you have not done so already, get the COVID-19 vaccine and upload proof of vaccination to the Dickinson patient portal or email it to health@dickinson.edu. You must be fully vaccinated before the start of the program (you are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna and 2 weeks after the dose of Johnson & Johnson). 

On the other hand, we understand that these modifications and expectations may impact some students’ decision to study abroad. Therefore, you will have until the end of the day Thursday, May 27th to notify the CGSE that you no longer wish to participate in the program, and we will withdraw your application without any financial penalty.   

If you have any additional questions between now and Friday’s meeting, please do not hesitate to reach out. Please note that this information will also be sent to your emergency contacts on file.