Carnegie Mellon University

March 1, 2020

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:

Following Saturday’s note to campus, we are writing this afternoon to augment our policy and procedures for those members of our community who may be traveling internationally during the global coronavirus outbreak. The safety of our community is our foremost priority, and we want to do everything we can to keep our campus as safe as possible.

What is New:

Until further notice, we are asking anyone returning from a country on the CDC Level 3 travel warning list to self-isolate for 14 days upon their return to the United States and before coming to campus. Currently, those countries are China, Iran, South Korea and Italy. If you show symptoms during your self-isolation, you should seek medical attention immediately.

Also, we strongly recommend that you cancel any CMU event that may involve visitors from an affected country or ask such visitors to not join the event unless they have been in the U.S. for 14 days and are symptom-free. Talk to your supervisors and department heads, and if you have questions or need advice about how to proceed, please contact CMU’s Enterprise Risk Management.

Moving forward, these guidelines should be followed for any country that is added to the CDC Level 3 list. Please check CMU’s coronavirus sitefor the latest information. We have added a direct link to that information from the CMU homepage.

With spring break quickly approaching, we again encourage you to carefully reconsider your international travel plans. Additional travel warnings, delays, cancellations and restrictions to re-enter the U.S. for an undetermined amount of time could be real possibilities.

Reminders:

For any questions about the university’s expectations and to notify the university of your self-isolation (student, faculty or staff), please contact Maureen Dasey-Morales, associate vice president for community health and well-being. By notifying us, the university can provide support during your time away from campus. Your personal information will be treated sensitively and with appropriate confidentiality.

In addition, we remind you to please wash your hands often, cover all sneezes and coughs and stay home if you are sick. We appreciate your cooperation as we all play an important part in keeping our campus healthy and safe. We know this is a lot of information to consider, but it is imperative to be vigilant with our own personal health.

Above all, it is important that we support each other. This global outbreak can create anxiety and impact members of our community in different ways. It is important for each of us to be mindful and respectful of others as we all work together to keep our community safe. Please let us know if you know someone who may need to talk or need additional resources from the university. If you have additional questions, please consult CMU’s coronavirus webpage.

Sincerely,

Jim Garrett, Provost
Gina Casalegno, Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs