Healthy and Safe 2020-2021

Brown University returns to Level 1 Campus Activity Status, effective November 18. Visit healthy.brown.edu/ for more details. Up-to-date information for our professional programs can be found below.

Executive Education Plan

Brown’s School of Professional Studies runs a small number of executive education programs that draw mid-career professionals from around the country to Rhode Island for intensive educational sessions lasting from a few days to two weeks. The remainder of the instruction for these students takes place online. These students are adults with full-time employment, accustomed to frequent business travel. We have developed the following procedures to ensure that these students can complete their education in a way that protects their health and the health of the Brown community and other Rhode Islanders with whom they interact.

Travel to Rhode Island

  • Students will be given the option of participating remotely if they do not feel comfortable traveling and participating in person.
  • Students will follow the most current guidance from the State of Rhode Island regarding permissible travel and associated requirements. Current guidance states that travelers from high risk states must either present a negative COVID test from a sample taken within 72 hours before travel to RI, quarantine for 14 days in RI, or quarantine until receiving a negative test result from a test conducted in RI.
  • Brown requires that all students be tested for COVID before participating in classes. All students will undergo COVID testing at Brown regardless of their state of origin (high risk or not).
  • We recommend that students provide proof of a negative COVID test (within 72 hours before travel). If students from high-risk areas are unable to secure a COVID test prior to their travel to RI, they must  self-quarantine until results are received from Brown's facility.  All students in quarantine will be able to connect to class remotely if needed.
  • All visiting students will be in Brown’s testing pool while participating in on-campus courses. Brown is planning to conduct twice weekly testing among asymptomatic members of the testing pool.
  • If you receive a positive test result from either of your two Brown tests, you will be required to remain in Rhode Island and isolate for at least an additional 10 days. RIDOH has also indicated that if a student with a positive test attempts to travel while infectious, they may be placed on a Federal Do Not Board List per CDC and Department of Homeland Security protocols.
  • The table below illustrates the requirements around testing and quarantine. Some of these details are reiterated below in the Testing section.
  • The Rhode Island Department of Health website for monitoring changes to Rhode Island’s travel regulations as well as updates to “hot spot” states is: https://health.ri.gov/covid/travel/ 
Travel to RI from origin state Requirements upon entry in RI What to expect after entry in RI Waiting for Brown/RI results
Hot spot 72 hour negative test from your origin state (option 1) Brown test Quarantine not required while waiting for results
Hot spot Quarantine for 14 days in RI (option 2) Brown test Quarantine required while waiting for results (could be 48 hours)
Not a hot spot No requirements for entry Brown test Quarantine not required while waiting for results

Housing

  • Executive education students usually secure their own housing in hotels or air bnb locations throughout the community. During 2020-2021, Brown will contract a block of hotel rooms for executive students for their in-person sessions to limit their dispersal in the Providence community.

Classrooms and Building

  • The School of Professional Studies executive education facility at 225 Dyer St. is well positioned to support face-to-face instruction. Our spacious classrooms and common spaces have the capacity to accommodate students for coursework and dining with adequate social distancing. Individual classes of executive students have 20-35 students, and classrooms in 225 Dyer are large enough to house these students with six foot distancing.
  • Classroom set-up has been audited and de-densified for safe capacity. The formula is one student per desk. This same formula applies to the common spaces -- please limit one person to one seat (even if it looks like there is room for 2). All meals will be provided and should be consumed outside of the classroom. 
  • Eating while teaching or attending an in-person class or similar academic activity or function where mask wearing is required is not allowed. Drinking from a closed water bottle or similar container with a straw or similar device that allows for minimal uncovering of the mouth area is permissible, but should be kept to a minimum. 
  • Brown staff are working with the building management team to develop traffic flow patterns, room layouts, and policies for elevator and restroom occupancy that conform to social distancing guidelines. Building management has also developed increased cleaning protocols to sanitize high-touch areas throughout the day, and clean all areas overnight. Please see the plans from CIC.
  • 225 Dyer Street has a MERV 14 filtering system and executes a full exchange of outside air every hour.
  • Executive education students will remain at 225 Dyer, separate from other campus facilities, in order to minimize contact between these students and the larger campus population.

Dining, Community Contact, and Compliance 

  • The School of Professional Studies will provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all students to minimize exposure in local restaurants and hotel dining areas. 
  • You are required to limit your social contacts to your hotel, classes, outdoor socially distant activities with your classmates, and travel to and from the airport or train station. We realize that this precludes activities you would normally enjoy, including going to restaurants, bars, or coffee shops with your classmates. It is, however, essential for helping to protect the health and safety of our community. You will be required to attest to having limited social contact in this way every morning at your arrival in 225 Dyer.
  • Eating is the only time that masks will be removed. When masks are off, dining must take place in as solitary a location as is feasible -- or -- better yet, “take it outside”. SPS will make spaces for single occupancy as clear as possible indoors. Talking and laughing with classmates can be done with masks on after eating.
  • All Brown students coming to the University in person must pledge their compliance to the safety protocols. Prior to travel to Brown, students will be emailed a Student Commitment, Education & Prevention module that they must sign in agreement.

Testing, Contact Tracing, and Isolation

  • Executive education students will undergo COVID testing in Brown’s facility upon arriving to RI. They will be subject to the same testing protocol as other members of the Brown community during the time they are in Providence for face-to-face sessions.
  • Brown has added a testing site in the Jewelry District at 1 Davol Square. Students will need to be tested upon arrival in Rhode Island, and also a second time during their stay. The tools developed for symptom tracking and scheduling a covid test (and receiving results) will be released to students closer to the date of their arrival.
  • If students can provide a negative COVID test from their home state, taken within 72 hours of arrival, they will not need to quarantine while they wait for their RI COVID test results.
  • Executive education students will be in the population using the Brown-mandated daily symptom tracker.
  • Executive education students will also log their Brown contacts for later contact tracing. SPS staff will provide a log of all Brown students, staff, and faculty entering and leaving the floor on which students are located in 225 Dyer.
  • Should any executive education student test positive for COVID, contact tracing will be conducted by the RI Department of Health. The student will isolate in their hotel room, and others with whom they had contact will quarantine in their hotel rooms or homes. Brown is seeking a preferred relationship with a local primary health care provider to facilitate care should any student fall ill. In addition, Brown staff will assemble a guide to quarantining in your hotel to be used in the unlikely event of students isolating or quarantining.

Staffing

  • The School of Professional Studies staff will generally continue to work remotely, as recommended by Brown policies. Only staff necessary to the operation of the instruction will be present during the weeks in which students are present. This will include program operations staff, a/v support staff, faculty and teaching assistants, program directors, and the Dean. This is approximately 10-12 staff. Limited catering staff may also be present.

Brown University has launched a public health campaign called Brown Takes Care.

Responding to Frequently Asked Questions

Facilities and Health Provisions.

Following guidance from the state of RI, Brown University, and CIC (the building manager), visitors to 225 Dyer can expect to encounter frequent safety protocols. These include but are not limited to:

  • Distancing in elevators, classrooms, common areas and stairwells
  • Required mask-wearing for all occupants and visitors
  • Meticulous cleaning regimens in all areas
  • Schedule modifications (class and breaks) to de-densify populations

Read More: Health Protocols Main Link

Yes. Frequent cleaning protocols -- as well as guidelines for capacity and use of classrooms, conference rooms, common spaces and restrooms -- will be implemented.

Read More: Brown Cleaning Statement

Yes. Masks will be required in all building spaces as well as public establishments in the area (hotels, eateries, etc.). More Information: Masks related protocols

Brown staff complete online training on workplace safety before returning to campus, and must attest that they will follow all workplace safety policies and plans. All students, including you, must similarly sign a Student Commitment to following safety policies and plans before you come to campus. Penalties for staff violating these policies include a range of sanctions, up to termination. Student violations are considered violations of the Student Code of Conduct, and can similarly have sanctions up to expulsion.

SPS will provide boxed breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and individually packaged refreshments and snacks.

All meals served at SPS will be boxed, ‘grab and go’ meals. All beverages and snacks will also be pre-packaged. Brown Catering staff will be greatly reduced and all meals will be prepared in adherence with state and University pre-cautions. Read More: Brown Dining COVID Planning

All students and participants in SPS programming are expected to be mindful of mask-wearing, distancing, sanitizing and other precautionary behaviors. While we will not be mandating any restrictions to area eateries and coffee shops, our expectation is that students will make safe decisions for themselves and their classmates, staff, and faculty.

In an effort to limit exposure, SPS will be securing hotel-housing with the expectation that the cohort will stay together. Students who live locally may remain in their homes because this does not increase their network of contacts.

As fall 2020 residential weeks will not incorporate visits to Brown’s College Hill campus or other learning locations, there is no need for provided transportation. Brown Shuttle will be in service. More Information: Brown Shuttle/Transportation Information

Group work will be at the discretion of faculty instructors, and if needed, group work will be facilitated in open areas with appropriate distancing.  Learn More: Brown Teaching and Learning Protocols

Executive students will be expected to make safe decisions for visits to College Hill or the Brown Bookstore, for example. There will not be any classes or visits planned by the program.

Any student may opt not to attend the residential sessions offered in person. All classes will have an option to attend via zoom for remote synchronous participation. In some cases, if large numbers of students are participating remotely, classes may involve parallel synchronous sessions or asynchronous options for remote students.

Brown SPS will anticipate hosting as many or as few students as can attend the session at 225 Dyer Street in Providence, provided that in-person instruction is permitted via state, University and property protocols. Gatherings at 225 Dyer Street for the purpose of remote learning together, may be subject to participant numbers.

Testing and Contact Tracing

You may refuse testing for any reason; however, we cannot allow students who cannot provide a negative test result to participate in person. More Information: Testing Information Link 

Students will be required to be tested in Brown’s testing facility. Currently the State of Rhode Island requires a negative COVID test within 72 hours before traveling, or requires self-quarantine until a negative test result is delivered in Rhode Island. Students can be tested before traveling and present negative test results upon arrival to avoid quarantine, but they will also need to be tested in Brown’s facility.

Brown will provide testing (at no cost to the student). You will need to self-quarantine until getting your test results. You may arrive several days early in order to self-quarantine before classes start or you may participate in classes remotely from the hotel.

SPS students will be in the pool for routine asymptomatic testing during the time they are in residence. Testing individuals regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms allows Brown to track the prevalence of COVID-19 in the University population.

You will be required to keep a daily log of your contacts for the purpose of contact tracing while you are in residence. More Information: Testing/Tracing App

Travel and Quarantine.

We can anticipate that unexpected changes will occur with individuals’ travel plans. We will work with individual circumstances to accommodate the learning objectives of the session. Please purchase travel insurance or verify that airlines will be flexible with refunds before purchasing your ticket.

All Brown students -- at every level of engagement with credit-bearing coursework -- are required to provide proof of health insurance while they are enrolled at the University. All Executive Masters students will be asked during their administrative onboarding for the program if they have health insurance coverage. If a student does not have outside coverage, Brown requires that the students have coverage through the University plan. This coverage can be prepared on an individual basis with the Brown Insurance Office directly. The policy effective dates for any given year are August 15 - August 15, and therefore two policy terms will be needed for any Executive Masters program. Fees for the Student Health Insurance Program (SHIP) will be administered directly to the student through Brown’s Bursar’s Office in conjunction with tuition billing.

For additional questions about rates, eligibility or coverage, please contact Cheryl Moan in Brown’s Insurance and Purchasing Office by email: [email protected], or phone: 401-863-1703.

Brown and SPS expect our visitors to conduct self-checks daily (inclusive of an assessment of how healthy you are feeling and a temperature check). If a student has not traveled with a personal thermometer, the staff at 225 Dyer will have equipment to use.

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) will perform any contact tracing necessary for students who test positive during or soon after participation in an in-person session. If the test result comes from a Rhode Island testing facility, a RIDOH worker will contact you directly. If you test positive after leaving Providence, please notify SPS staff immediately ([email protected]; 401-863-7500) who will coordinate with Brown Health Services and RIDOH to ensure Rhode Island contact tracing. More information: RIDOH Contact Tracing

Please check Canvas program and schedule pages regularly for updates.

Three meals per day are scheduled only for class days at 225 Dyer. It is recommended that outside of those dates, people use GrubHub or other food delivery services to the hotel to limit exposure. This same recommendation is in place if a student becomes ill and must isolate in their hotel room.

Have another question? Email [email protected]. For general information about how Brown University is responding to the pandemic, you may visit Healthy.Brown.edu.