To the GW Community:
The university has been working closely with the District of Columbia and Commonwealth of Virginia on fall planning and measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Both jurisdictions have officially given the university the “go ahead” with our updated plans based on the President’s announcement on July 27th. Limiting access to our campus facilities to the greatest extent possible is a critical strategy in combating this challenging pandemic. Both the District of Columbia and Commonwealth of Virginia expect us to establish public health measures to safeguard those who need to be on campus and mitigate, to the extent possible, any potential outbreaks that could burden local health and medical resources.
As a result of these expectations and to protect the health and safety of the GW community, we have made the determination that we will need to further restrict access to our campuses. Beginning Friday, August 28th at 5:00 pm, access to all of GW’s campuses will be limited to ONLY those who have special permission to be on campus. GWorld card access to university buildings on the Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon and Virginia Science and Technology campuses will be disabled on this date for those without permission to be on campus. Access to GW centers and offices in leased spaces will also be restricted. Deans and vice presidents are engaged in identifying the limited number of faculty, students and staff who require access to campus. Ross Hall, all Medical Faculty Associates buildings and the GW Hospital will continue to operate under separate access protocols based on their classification as medical facilities.
As previously announced, all undergraduate courses will be held online for the fall semester with limited exceptions, as will most graduate classes. On-campus housing is being provided to a limited number of students with extenuating personal or academic circumstances, with public health measures. All other students should not come to campus unless they have been granted a limited exception for extenuating circumstances and should plan to access services virtually.
Faculty and staff should not come to campus unless they have permission from their dean or vice president. Staff should continue teleworking until further notice. If you are granted access to campus, you will receive detailed information about required training, public health protocols and COVID-19 testing.
Please be aware that the District of Columbia has put into place 14-day quarantine requirements for those entering the District from 27 high-risk states. Virginia and Maryland are exempt from this quarantine requirement. For more information, visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we work to ensure the safety of those who must live or work on our campuses. For more information on GW’s fall planning and response to the coronavirus, visit go.gwu.edu/covid19.
Sincerely,
Scott Burnotes
Vice President for the Division of Safety and Facilities
