Georgetown has canceled all study abroad and exchange programs for the Fall 2020 semester, according to an email sent on June 15 by Provost Robert Groves. In a separate email, Georgetown’s graduate school announced all graduate students would be invited to attend classes in person.
The cancellation of university-sponsored international travel, including study abroad, applies to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students through the fall. Faculty and staff are still subject to the university’s April 21 travel suspension, which allows faculty and staff members to plan future travel with the permission of senior administrators.
“Our decision was made in the interest of the health and safety of our community, taking into account the dynamic nature of the global public health situation, significant current limitations on international travel, and the ability to appropriately support students abroad during this time of uncertainty,” Groves wrote in an email.
Students who planned to study abroad will receive information shortly about their next steps.
Georgetown’s graduate school also announced in a separate email that students would be invited back to campus for the Fall 2020 semester while offering online classes for graduate students unable to return to campus. Faculty members are designing hybrid courses available for both in-person and virtual instruction.
The number of students allowed in a classroom may be capped and class times staggered to reduce on-campus traffic and ensure social distancing.
“The entire campus environment will be structured with health and safety as our first priority, in accordance with recommendations from the University’s public health working group and the requirements of the District and the federal government,” the Deans wrote in an email to graduate students.
These announcements follow an email sent last week by University President John DeGioia announcing programs will be releasing plans for the fall in the coming weeks. A decision has not yet been shared by the administration on what the fall semester will look like for undergraduate students.
Continued updates about how the novel coronavirus is affecting Georgetown can be found here.
