My dear community,
President McCartney has just announced that Smith College will be bringing a large portion of undergraduate students back onto campus for the 2021 spring semester. A tremendous amount of thought and planning has gone into this decision to ensure that the health of students, faculty and staff are held in equal priority. This decision is predicated on the public health mandates of both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Northampton.
We are now in discussion with the college regarding the implications of this decision for SSW’s summer terms. I know that so many of you are eager to return and we are hoping that we can have an on-campus presence this summer. Because the pandemic continues to evolve and we need to be sure we can address significant health risk concerns, we will not make a final decision about a return to campus until February/March 2021.
I realize that waiting for this decision is not easy. We are as eager to be back together as you are, and the health challenges and risks are real. We want to make this decision with great care, based on the most current information as it is released.
Thank you everyone for being the brilliant and caring community that you are.
All my best,
Marianne R.M. Yoshioka, M.S.W., MBA, Ph.D., LCSW
Dean & Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor
Co-editor, Smith College Studies in Social Work
Smith College School for Social Work
