1:05pm Actual Tour Begins (15 mins)
• Hello, my name is NAME and I work in OFFICE. I will be your tour guide today.
• Thank you for taking the time to be here – we know there’s a lot going on with you at this time.
• Before we get started, I’d like to confirm that you all have had 2 COVID tests and have quarantined for 7 days between tests? [pause and look at the group]
• If you have not had your second test yet, unfortunately you will need to reschedule your Return to Campus Tour once both tests are complete.
• Next, I have two important requests: please leave your mask fully on your face at all times, even if you have a question, or if you think someone can’t hear you.
• And please keep your distance from one another – at least 6 feet apart. I will rely on this trusty pool noodle to help demonstrate 6 feet as we move through the tour. I know you are excited to be here, but you need to be aware of maintaining your distance from one another.
• Alright now, I want to start off by saying, I know you have received a lot of information from MIT and from your program offices. This tour is intended to show you some of the new safety protocols we've put in place for in-person learning.
• I am going to be as informative and quick moving as possible. And I am going to repeat things, important things.
• I will try to answer your questions and if I cannot, I’ll point you to resources or suggest quick ways for you to find your answer.
• Please bear with me and my script as I have a lot of important information I must share with you all.
• Let’s start with a quick check in. I'm going to call your name. Please give a wave and share with us what program and class you are in.
[Run through your Sloan Groups RSVP list and check people off who are here.]
• Thank you. It’s great to meet you all.
• The whole reason you are all here today is so we can be on campus, in-person, together. Staff and faculty have been working hard this winter to prepare to welcome as many students as possible back to campus again this spring.
• To do this safely, and to comply with MIT policy as well as state and federal guidelines, MIT Sloan has designed and implemented many new processes and procedures to maximize our chances of keeping campus open for in-person classroom instruction while also protecting the health of our entire community and our Cambridge neighbors.
• I can confidently say, that today, going into spring semester, we have a proven operating plan, an on-site testing facility, and seasoned staff and faculty experienced with managing the flow on campus and teaching in multiple modes.
• This operating plan worked in stopping community spread while people were in campus buildings. In fact, we had zero transmissions on campus this past fall.
• Today, we have cautious optimism for the future with the roll out of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, but we also have the cloud of more contagious COVID-19 variants spreading in the US.
• So our operating plan is just as important as ever and our expectation will remain that even when people in our community are vaccinated, they will still adhere to the safety protocols on and off campus – the 4 W’s. The vaccine or past infection do not provide a waiver to the protocols in place.
• Today, I will walk through many of these new procedures and guidelines.
• We look forward to your being a part of the collective success this spring, and nailing the basics of keeping our community safe, so that we can shift our focus to strengthening our community instead.
• We will start with a classroom discussion, have an opportunity to ask your burning questions, and then we will walk through a few key areas on campus.
• I ask that you please hold your questions until we are in the classroom as we have a lot to cover.
• We are going to start with access to campus.
• Students are only allowed on campus when they have class or for a COVID test. In order to meet density requirements and enable in-person classroom experiences, we must limit campus access.
• We need to control the flow of traffic through the buildings to avoid crowding and to ensure that only people who have completed their daily health attestation, are COVID Pass approved, and are scheduled to be on campus for class are able to access campus buildings.
• All students are permitted to enter campus either through E51 or E62 Main Street where we are today and designated exits will be marked throughout the buildings.
• If you are coming to E62 only for a COVID-19 test and are not scheduled for an in-person class, you must enter on the Memorial Drive entrance. You will have access to that entrance only for testing.
• Faculty and staff may enter via E51, E52 via Shames Plaza/Wadsworth Street, and E62 via Main Street.
• Your daily health attestation through the Covid Pass app is how you get into any building. You’ll hear me mention this more, but it’s your responsibility to do the attestation when you wake up so you are granted access by the time you arrive to campus.
• When you arrive at a designated entry point like you have today at E62, one by one you will tap your MIT ID for access. The physically distant queuing line for check in is outside around North Garden.
• Inside there will be ‘Sloan Operating Center’ staff members on hand to assist should there be any problems or questions with access and ‘Wellness Crew’ members stationed throughout the buildings.
• We owe a debt of gratitude to these people who are here each day to help keep you and the campus healthy and safe. Please be respectful and kind to them.
• We are going to formally enter campus as you will on a given day you arrive for class.
• Please follow my lead and keep 6 feet distance between you and the next person as you enter and once you are inside.
[Walk/tap into building one by one; hold door with foot to model the behavior; direct group inside and make your way into the Siteman Dining room area once everyone is inside.]
• We have been very deliberate in designing the flow of campus.
• But we will rely on you to plan ahead.
• As I mentioned, you must complete your Daily Attestation on the COVID Pass app AT LEAST 30 minutes before you arrive on campus. Some students find it helpful to set a reminder on their phones on the days they are scheduled to be in campus.
• Plan for lines when you arrive to campus, like at the airport, and you must plan in advance to arrive on time for your scheduled class.
• I am going to review some overarching details about this building and then we will proceed to a classroom located on the second floor.
• Here you see the exit of the Testing Site. As I mentioned, the entrance to the building when you are here for a COVID test is on Memorial Drive. You will queue up along the windows and enter into the Executive Education Dining Room and exit out here. [point to door under stairs]
• The testing procedures are exactly as you experiences at MIT Medical or Johnson Athletic Center.
• Elevator capacity is limited to two people at a time. Use the stairs when possible. The elevators will only be going up to the 2nd floor.
• Each staircase is designated as an UP or DOWN staircase to help maintain traffic flow.
• Please pay attention to the signage as we walk through campus.
• The Siteman Café looks quite different. You can see here that the cafeteria is closed.
• With the high numbers of COVID-19 cases across Massachusetts and around the world and with research indicating that indoor dining is a high-risk activity for transmission, we will continue to proceed with caution as we consider dining options.
• For the spring semester, we will begin with outdoor dining only, and are currently investigating ways to provide more sheltered outdoor spaces.
• We will offer grab-and-go meals and coffee that you can pre-order online on MIT’s GET app. There are multiple pick-up locations on campus that we will walk by today.
• Restrooms are located on the far side of Siteman Café. Capacity will be posted outside each restroom on campus. Should the restroom be at capacity, you must wait outside to door. This is where you will typically find shared-use water bubblers.
• The study rooms on the first and second floors are closed at this time. However, there are classrooms that we call “bridge rooms” for your use if you are going from in-person to remote class back-to-back.
• On the second floor, there are 6 classrooms and a connector hallway to the second floor of E52.
• To exit E62, you will go out the 100 Main Street entrance you came in [point].
• We are going to proceed upstairs to a classroom for our next stop on the tour. Please note the distancing nudges along the floor and the designated classroom entrance and exit doors.
[Tour moves to second floor via the UP stairs next to the entrance. Take left down hallway to the E62-262 door on the right. The entrance is the far side of the classroom; start the next few talking points while walking to classroom.]
