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.