Return to Normal Unlikely by September, Harvard President Bacow Tells Faculty [View all]

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Return to Normal Unlikely by September, Harvard President Bacow Tells Faculty

By James S. Bikales and Kevin R. Chen, Crimson Staff Writers
8 hours ago

Harvard is unlikely to “return to normal” by September, University President Lawrence S. Bacow told the Faculty of Arts and Sciences over Zoom during its final meeting of the academic year Tuesday.

“It’s pretty clear to all of us that we are unlikely to see things return to normal, ex ante, by September,” Bacow said. “People are just working nonstop as we sort through the alternatives as we plan for the fall, reimagining new ways to be excellent.”

At the faculty meeting, Bacow reiterated the University’s plan to reopen its research facilities in phases, after ordering all FAS-affiliated laboratories to ramp down to only essential functions in March.

But he said the return of students to campus en masse will likely come later.

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The faculty unanimously approved the proposed courses of instruction for the fall semester for the College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Harvard Extension School. They also passed a proposal to simplify the College’s rules for simultaneous course enrollment, allowing some courses to receive a three-year blanket waiver for students to simultaneously enroll in them without petitioning to do so.

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