Policy on Students Requesting to Learn and Work Remotely – Spring 2022

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 Spring 2022, the University expects that undergraduates and graduate students (except in those very limited 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. 

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 Spring 2022. During the period of remote instruction between January 12 and January 30, graduate students may perform their duties remotely, but they are expected to be on campus  by the scheduled start of in-person instruction (January 31, 2022) to teach their classes 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.

In limited circumstances, students may seek an exemption from the required return to campus as a legally recognized reasonable accommodation (e.g., for a documented disability).  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.

To provide greater flexibility for international students facing difficulties with 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 January 12, 2022 will have 30 days (until 11:59 pm, February 10, 2022) to enter the United States. New graduate students in programs with different start dates should consult the relevant program office and the Office of Global Services for their arrival deadlines. 

Any 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.