A Safe Return to Campus

FAQs About Returning to Campus

• Campus Access

  Students are only allowed on campus when they have class or scheduled testing. For us to meet density requirements and enable in-person classroom experiences, we must limit campus access to those who have class or have their scheduled testing time.

  Collapse

• Class Schedules and Formats

  Please review the latest calendar and curriculum plans for the 2021 spring semester: 

  Calendar + curriculum

  Collapse

• Course Packs

  Students will have the option to order course packs to be printed and shipped to a domestic address. We are also exploring allowing a contactless pickup directly from Copytech (in E52) for those students in the Cambridge area. We are, unfortunately, unable to send course packs internationally at this time.

  If you are picking up a course pack on campus, please plan to do so on a day when you are scheduled to be on campus for class.

  Collapse

• Entry and Exit

  Prior to coming to campus, be sure to complete your daily attestation.

  Designated entrances for students attending in-person classes are E51 and E62 via Main Street. To enter E51 or E62, you'll tap your MIT ID for access. There will be staff on hand to assist should there be any problems with access.

  If you are scheduled for a COVID-19 test, you'll enter at E62 Memorial Drive (riverfront) entrance, which is only for those coming to campus for their COVID-19 tests. You cannot enter the testing area from any other door. 

  If you are on campus already for classes prior to your testing time, please exit the building and proceed to the testing entrance at E62 (Memorial Drive, riverfront). 

  My COVID pass is up to date, it says I’m cleared for access, yet it still says “none” for buildings I’m cleared for. When will access be turned on?

  • Your pass may say "none" but you have access to E62 and E51 entry points.

  When I tap my ID at an entry point, my ID doesn't register red or green at the entry points. What should I do? 

  • Contact covidapps-help@mit.edu for assistance or seek onsite assistance from our MIT Sloan Operating Committee leader.

  Collapse

• Events, Activities, and Social Gatherings (on- and off-campus)

  Overall, gatherings of any size with anyone outside of your immediate household is strongly discouraged. For additional guidance:

  MIT Sloan Policy for Student Activities

  Additional guidance can be found on the MIT Now website:

  MIT Now website

  Collapse

• Food & Beverage

  Please review food and beverage policies and ordering instructions here:

  Food + Beverage

  Collapse

• Graduate Housing

  Graduate students residing in private and multi-occupant apartments have been invited to return to campus. Graduate students living in on-campus residence halls will be included in a phased move-in process. In all cases, our graduate students will be welcomed back to Cambridge this academic year, albeit with limitations on campus density.

  Additional information for Graduate Housing

  Collapse

• Masks

  All students, faculty, and staff who are coming to campus will be required to wear an approved face covering both inside and outside while on campus at all times. MIT Sloan branded masks will be distributed during the required Return to Campus Tour. They are black with the MIT Sloan logo in white. Multiple masks will be supplied to each student in case they lose them.

  Collapse

• Obtaining your MIT ID

  The Atlas Service Center continues to operate primarily remotely with limited in-person services due to COVID-19.  This spring, students will need to make an appointment to obtain their ID.  Cards have been printed for all students who have submitted a photograph.  Any cards that are not picked up will be held at the Atlas Center for the student until they arrive on-campus. 

  Incoming Graduate Students living on campus:

  The Atlas Center has been coordinating with Housing to print and deliver cards to the residence the student will be moving into.  ID cards will be available for pick-up at the front desk when the student moves in. 

  On-campus students requiring spouse/partner ID’s should submit a request via this link.  The ID will be processed and delivered to the spouse/partner’s residence via Housing.

  Incoming Graduate Students living off-campus:

  Students will need to make a reservation in order to pick up their IDs.  Card pick-up reservation hours are Monday – Friday, 8 am – 4 pm.  Cards have not been printed for students who have not submitted his or her photograph.  While picking up the card in-person is being offered, for those who are unable to come to campus, mailing the card to a current mailing address locally or within the US, is an option.  Cards for international students working remotely in the Fall term will be held at the Atlas Center until they return to campus.

  For your information, the emails sent to students are below.  Emails have been sent to students who are eligible to obtain an ID but have not yet submitted a photograph.  Students who have a printed ID have also been sent instructions on how to make an appointment.

  Students Without a Photo:

  Please submit a photograph for the card to be processed via https://mycard.mit.edu.  ID cards will not be available for pick-up if you have not submitted a photograph.  Instructions for pick-up will be provided once your photo is submitted and the card is processed. Please email atlascenter@mit.edu if you have any questions or concerns. 

  If you will not be on-campus for the Fall semester, please contact the Atlas Center when you return to campus.

  Student for whom cards have been printed:

  Your MIT ID Card is ready for pickup from the Atlas Center.  Card pick-up is by reservation only.  To reserve a time for card pick-up please visit https://mycard.mit.edu and click "GET Orders/Reservations". As a courtesy to your fellow students, please make only ONE reservation.  Reservations can be made no more than 6 days in advance. Please note you will need a government-issued photo ID (Passport or U.S. driver’s license) to pick up your ID card.  **If you are an on-campus resident your ID will be available for pick-up when you check into your residence, there is no need to make a reservation.**

  Please contact atlascenter@mit.edu with any questions.

  Collapse

• Printing

  A student printer has been set up and connected in an area just off the E52 Lobby, walking toward E62. The system uses a new contactless cloud print tool, which is available to faculty, staff, and students using the Pharos print system. The print tool allows you to upload files to print without needing any special software or drivers. Faculty, staff, and students have a pre-loaded $300.00 print budget.

  Instructions for printing

  Collapse

• Scenario Planning for a Positive Test

  MIT has created a COVID-19 Monitoring Team. When someone in the community tests positive, the dean is notified that there is a positive case in their school community. MIT Medical manages the contact tracing and determines the risk level to the community. Privacy in these cases is critical and the identity of the person who tests positive is not revealed to senior leadership. If you are contacted by MIT Medical's contact tracing team, please cooperate fully and honestly for the safety and well-being of our entire community. No punitive consequences will result in such transparency.

  Additional information about testing and contact tracing protocols can be found on the MIT Now website.

  MIT NOW website

  Collapse

• Bridge Spaces for Virtual Meetings and Classes

  We have identified classrooms to use as bridge space for students who need to access Zoom for online classes but are unable to get home in time following an in-person class or testing appointment.  

  schedule & Location of bridge rooms

  Several rooms in academic buildings around MIT have been designated as “touchdown spaces” for brief use, such as in between on-campus classes. These academic rooms and the W20 Stratton Student Center’s lobbies and larger spaces are available for MIT Covid Pass holders to use. All of these indoor resources are on a first-come, first-use basis and are restricted to the posted Covid-modified capacity of the space.

  Touchdown spaces around MIT

  Collapse

• Testing

  Please read here for additional details on testing

  Do I have to follow the MIT Sloan testing cadence? I live far away and I'm not scheduled to come in on one of my testing days. What should I do?

  • Our testing cadence at MIT Sloan requires 3-4 days between tests. Testing appointments at MIT Sloan are available in day pairs – Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday. This allows for students to be tested twice in the previous week with one of those tests in the previous 3-4 days.

  What if I miss my scheduled COVID-19 test time at MIT Sloan? 

  • You can still test outside of your scheduled time at MIT Sloan's testing facility. Just stop by to see if there's a long line, if there's not a line, feel free to test at MIT Sloan.
  • You can also test at MIT Medical or Johnson Athletic Center without an appointment.
  • Please note that you should maintain the testing cadence and make sure your tests are spaced so that any time you need campus access, you'll have completed a test in the prior 3-4 days. For example, if you test on Friday and require campus access the following Wednesday, you'll need to get a test before that Wednesday, as too many days will have passed between Friday and Wednesday.

  What if I miss my scheduled testing day and I'm out of cadence with my testing schedule?

  • If you miss a test and are out of cadence, you will need to take two tests at MIT Medical (3-4 days apart) in order to return to MIT Sloan’s buildings.

  Collapse

• Travel

  We are following MIT’s travel policy, which is informed by state policy.  Those who wish to regularly access campus must comply with MIT, state, and federal travel restrictions and policies. Please be aware that these policies may change without notice. 

  MIT Travel Policy

  Collapse

• Visitors

  To maintain low building density, visitor access to campus will be significantly limited through the end of the calendar year 2020. For information on rare possible exceptions to the visitor policy, as well as required visitor protocols, please review MIT's requirements for accessing campus. 

  MIT campus access requirements 

  Collapse

• Wearable Health Monitoring Devices - AKA smart watches

  We are planning to provide smart watches to enable members of our community to monitor their own health to help keep campus safe. We plan to introduce these for the spring semester.

  We understand that some community members have expressed concern about these devices and we want everyone to understand their scope and their purpose. Individuals will maintain their own data except in specific circumstances that we describe below. We deeply value data privacy and are operating with that in mind.

  Smart watches will be provided by the school to each person who plans to be on campus. These are intended to identify early COVID-19 symptoms even in people who feel well and are visibly asymptomatic, as asymptomatic spread is a feature of this pandemic. These will provide an added layer of safety to our on-campus community by allowing potentially infected people to identify early symptoms and contact MIT Medical so that they can safely stay home and away from campus where they could infect others.

  Each individual will monitor and maintain their own health metrics regularly. Metrics to be monitored include temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation level, and breathing rate, as each of these can indicate a COVID-19 infection if outside the normal expected range. Only if these are outside the range provided by MIT Medical will individuals be expected to share their health metrics with MIT Medical and follow the subsequent guidance.

  These smart watches will not be used for disciplinary purposes and individual data will only be requested by MIT Medical in case of a COVID-19 infection for the purposes of treating and quarantining the ill person and conducting contact tracing.

  Collapse