Updated: Tuesday, March 31, 2020

On this page, you'll find updates on:

Per Cornell University's coronavirus website: Effective at 5 p.m. Friday, March 13, Cornell University suspended all classes on the Ithaca campus for three weeks. Virtual instruction will begin on Monday, April 6. The university remains open; however, only students who have permission to remain in on-campus housing and essential personnel are allowed on campus at this time.

All Info Sci faculty and staff are currently working remotely.

Resources

Cornell's COVID-19 resources and updates page

Cornell Tech's COVID-19 resource page

Cornell Center for Teaching Innovation's page – Preparing for Alternative Course Delivery during COVID-19

IT Support Group: information and resources for working remotely

Remote Work Guidelines for departments and managers

COVID-19 Workplace Guidance for Cornell faculty and staff, courtesy of Cornell HR

Guidance and updates regarding continuity planning for Researchers at Cornell

Procuring research supplies during the laboratory shutdown

Facilities

Gates Hall and CIS spaces in Rhodes Hall: Beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, we will be limiting access to Gates Hall, and to the CIS spaces in Rhodes Hall, during this period of remote instruction. The restrictions will allow entry only to faculty, staff, and PhD/MS students in CIS, to be used by these groups in accordance with the guidelines for current building use conveyed in communications from the university. Read full details.

Deliveries

Drivers: If you don't have access to Gates Hall, please make your deliveries to Phillips Hall, 116 Hoy Road. You should be able to make a delivery there. Please call 212.255.6303 if there are any issues.

Changes to Academic Calendar

From University leadership: To accommodate for lost instruction time due to the two-week suspension of classes, the academic calendar for this semester has been revised as follows:

  • First day of online instruction, Monday April 6 
  • Last day to ADD a seven-week course, Tuesday, April 14
  • Last day for DROP/Grade Change, Tuesday, April 21 
  • Last day of online instruction, Tuesday, May 12
  • Study Days, May 13 - 15 
  • Exam Period, May 16 - 23

This revised academic calendar applies to all undergraduates and Info Sci MPS students. The revised academic calendar also applies to all graduate students in research degree programs, except those enrolled in courses offered by Cornell Tech, which will maintain the existing calendar.

Per the same letter from University leadership: Based on much discussion with college deans and associate deans for education, input from students and consultation with peer institutions, the deadline for drop/grade basis change has been extended to April 21. There is additional flexibility for undergraduates to opt for S/U grading for any course this semester and guidance on how such grades will count towards major, minor and academic good standing requirements.

Undergraduate

Student Grading

From the University's FAQ page for Faculty: "Undergraduate students will be permitted to change their grading basis to S/U in any course (with the exception of 7 week courses from the first half of the semester that have already been completed and graded) until April 21, and for this semester, restrictions on S/U grades will be eased. Read the full details on the University's FAQ page [Under "Academic Policies", "What changes have been made to university policies related to drop deadlines and grading options?"]

Info Sci Major Admission Requirements as well as Criteria for Good Standing have been updated to reflect University guidance on S/U for Spring 2020:

Advising

If you would like to make a virtual appointment, email Ugrad Advisor Ani Mercincavage (am2643@cornell.edu) with your availability with all days and times you are available for a 30-minute meeting between 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT. Please indicate: whether you would prefer a Zoom or a Skype meeting (if you prefer Skype, please let Ani know what your Skype name is); include your full name, your Cornell netid, and a brief sentence about what the meeting is about. 

MPS

Please visit this Info Sci MPS Spring 2020 page for key information and resources concerning Spring 2020 adjustments due to COVID-19. This page includes information on S/U grading option for the Spring 2020 semester and outlines changes to our third-semester petition policy. Information from that page is excerpted below.

Student Grading

Students may count up to 8 additional credits (for a total of 10) of S/U course work toward the MPS degree. Read the full details.

Third Semester Option

Students who are on track to graduate in May 2020 may petition to stay a third semester (fall 2020) to take classes in the fall semester and change their expected graduation date to December 2020. The petition is due May 1. This page has the full details as well as additional guidance on next steps

Advising

If you would like to make a virtual appointment with Barbara Woske, Info Sci graduate field coordinator, email her at bae2@cornell.edu. She'll respond with a Zoom link.

For Career Advising, students can schedule a Zoom session with Kate Reiter at www.calendly.com/kmr87 or by emailing her at kmr87@cornell.edu if they can’t find an appointment time that works for them.

INFO SCI Event Updates