Policy on Students Requesting to Learn and Work Remotely – Fall 2021

A Georgetown University education is fundamentally based upon in-person contact and deep learning through rich student and faculty engagement on the most important issues facing society. For Fall 2021, the University expects that undergraduates and graduate students (except in cases where their graduate programs, in consultation with the relevant dean, have already approved remote learning) in residential programs will be present on campus to take classes, make progress toward their degrees, and participate in other aspects of student life. 

Students may seek an exemption from the required return to campus as a legally recognized reasonable accommodation.  These students will be directed to the Academic Resource Center (ARC) or Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action (IDEAA) as appropriate, to complete a request for  accommodation. This process is distinct from the separate request for an exemption from the university’s vaccine mandate.

In some other cases, students living abroad may find it impossible to return to campus for the Fall semester. To provide greater flexibility for international students facing difficulties of travel or visas, the University will support extended arrival for F-1 students. Students should consult with the Office of Global Services on their specific situations, but generally undergraduate and graduate students in programs that begin on August 25, 2021 will have 30 days (until 11:59 pm,  September 23, 2021) to enter the United States. Graduate students in programs with earlier or later start dates should consult the relevant program office and the Office of Global Services for their arrival deadlines. 

All late-arriving students should work with their undergraduate advising dean or their Director of Graduate Studies to ensure that they are enrolled in courses that can accommodate their remote learning during the period between the start of classes and their first in-person class. Individual instructors may be unable to accommodate late-arriving students. In such cases, students may have to adjust their preferred course schedules. 

For All Students

In all cases, students, in consultation with their undergraduate advising dean or Director of Graduate Studies, must assess whether they will be able to make academic progress without being on campus. In some cases, a personal leave of absence (PLOA) for the semester may be the appropriate decision.

Students who cannot arrive in the United States by the applicable deadline (generally 11:59 pm, Sept. 23, for students in programs with Aug. 25 starts) may apply for permission to study virtually by completing the attached form by July 27, 2021. 

Graduate students in programs that have already been approved for remote learning and who have a full course load of remote courses do not need to complete the application. Graduate assistants who wish to work remotely as assistants must complete the request for remote learning and should consult the section for Graduate Students Only below. 

For Graduate Students Only

In recognition of the extraordinary strains caused by the pandemic, the Graduate School will temporarily waive its usual policy that PLOAs count against the five years of PhD funding it provides. For Fall 2021 only, PhD students who take a PLOA for reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic will not forfeit but rather defer the semester of fellowship support to a period in the future. The purpose of this flexibility is to support students’ ability to fulfill their primary responsibility: progress towards their degree.

With very limited exceptions, graduate student assistants are expected to be present on campus and to conduct their work in person. All graduate student assistants acting as teaching assistants (“TAs”) and teaching associates (“TSs”) are expected to return to work on campus for Fall 2021. At the discretion of department chairs, in consultation with the appropriate deans, some courses or sections to which teaching graduate students are assigned may be temporarily designated for hybrid or fully remote learning delivery, based on sound pedagogical principles and space-related concerns. However, even those graduate instructors on the Main Campus whose courses require remote delivery are expected to be in residence by the start of the Fall semester, so that they can engage and participate in activities that have historically been expected of them at a residential university (e.g., in-person meetings with students) to the extent permitted by public health guidelines.

Graduate student assistants with research assignments (“RAs”) are similarly expected to return to and work from campus, except in those cases where their assignments require them to be elsewhere (i.e., an off-campus research site or other designated in-person location).

The University understands that graduate students who have been approved to study remotely may seek the ability to perform their teaching or research obligations from an off-campus location. Graduate Student Assistants who cannot travel to the United States and who have been approved for remote learning may request permission to work in a fully remote format (i.e., online using Zoom and Canvas) in Fall 2021 using the additional process outlined below. Only requests from students who have been approved for remote learning will be considered. 

Requests are not necessary for:

(a) TAs and TSs assigned to courses that have already been approved as hybrid or fully remote for Fall 2021. 

(b) RAs located in the DMV whose work may be performed remotely and who have received permission to do so from their supervisor.

Only requests pertaining to Fall 2021 will be considered at this time. If necessary, requests pertaining to Spring 2022 will be considered at a later date.

Graduate students who wish to deliver their scheduled in-person course(s) in a fully remote format or who wish to conduct their research away from campus may make a formal request using the procedure outlined below.  

Procedure to Request an Exception to In-Person Teaching or an Exception to Fall 2021 Return to Campus

(Graduate Students with TA, TS, or RA Roles Only): 

An Assistant requesting an exemption from the required return to campus as a legally recognized reasonable accommodation will be referred to the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action (IDEAA) to complete a request for accommodation. If the request for accommodation falls outside the purview of IDEAA, the following procedure will apply:

1. In consultation with their department or unit Chair, the assistant requesting an exemption from either in-person teaching or returning to campus to fulfill research responsibilities, can make that request by completing the attached application form. The application should identify the nature and duration of the exemption requested, the rationale and/or special circumstances for the request, and the Assistant’s proposed plan to meet their research or teaching responsibilities.
2. The completed application should be submitted to the appropriate school dean (COL, NHS, MSB, SFS, BGE) and the Dean of the Graduate School for consideration by July 27, 2021. After consideration, the Deans will forward their recommendations along with the application materials to the Vice Provost for Education. If public health guidelines change, the Vice Provost for Education will establish rolling deadlines.
3. The authority to grant or deny the requests rests with the Vice Provost for Education. The Vice Provost for Education will come to a decision after consultation with an advisory group consisting of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the Graduate School, the appropriate DGS, and the Vice President for Student Affairs. 
4. In the event a request is denied and the Assistant wishes to appeal, an appeal may be sent by email to the Provost at provost@georgetown.edu.  The decision of the Provost is final.
5. The Vice Provost will have discretion to grant exemptions based on a balance of factors on a case-by-case basis.  Factors to be considered include but are not limited to:
   1. The nature of the special considerations which underlie the request (e.g., needs not addressed by IDEAA), including the student’s ability to arrive in the United States;
   2. Whether a significant part of the Assistant’s duties have traditionally (prior to March 2020) been designated for remote delivery; 
   3. The pedagogical needs of a course as determined by the unit chair and the relevant dean;
   4. The duration and scope of the exemption sought (full or partial semester? All duties remote or only some?);
   5. Whether the on-campus in-person responsibilities assigned to the Assistant can be fulfilled remotely or performed at a later date.

If there are multiple exemption requests for graduate student assistants within a department or other programmatic unit, decisions about which individuals may be exempted from the return to campus may be based upon the qualifications (e.g., responsibilities, skills, and abilities) needed to perform the unit’s on-campus work. If qualifications are equal, then decisions about which individuals continue to perform in-person work will be based on multiple criteria such as seniority, skill, and versatility to meet the University’s need and performance considerations.

Exception to the Fall 2021 Return to Campus Policy (All Students)

In recognition that the pandemic may make it impossible for some students to travel to campus  in order to fulfill their service responsibilities and make academic progress, students may request an exception to the Fall 2021 Return to Campus policy, by following the process outlined below:

Procedure to Request an Exception to Fall 2021 Return to Campus

(Undergraduate Students and Graduate Students with no TA, TS or RA Role Only): 

A student requesting an exemption from the required return to campus as a legally recognized reasonable accommodation will be referred to the  Academic Resource Center (ARC) or the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action (IDEAA) to complete a request for accommodation. If the request for accommodation falls outside the purview of IDEAA or ARC, the following procedure will apply:

1. In consultation with their department or unit chair, the student requesting an exemption from returning to campus, can make that request by completing the attached application form. The application should identify the nature and duration of the exemption requested, the rationale and/ or special circumstances for the request, and the student’s proposed plan to progress toward the degree. 
2. The completed application should be submitted to the appropriate school dean for consideration by July 27, 2021. After consideration, the dean will forward their recommendation along with the application materials to the Vice Provost for Education. If public health guidelines change, the Vice Provost for Education will establish rolling deadlines.
3. The authority to grant or deny the requests rests with the Vice Provost for Education. For undergraduates, the Vice Provost for Education will come to a decision after consultation with an advisory group consisting of the Vice Dean or Senior Associate Dean assigned to this panel, the appropriate DUS, and the Vice President for Student Affairs. For graduate students, the Vice Provost for Education will come to a decision after consultation with an advisory group consisting of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the Graduate School, the appropriate DGS, and Vice President for Student Affairs. 
4. In the event a request is denied and the student wishes to appeal, an appeal may be sent by email to the Provost at provost@georgetown.edu. The decision of the Provost is final.