Dear GSAS Students,
Now that the spring term is underway, I wanted to be in touch with an update on the Emergency Support Initiative (ESI). GSAS continues to work on the next phase of the initiative, which we hope will effectively target areas where the need is greatest. For those of you who are graduating this spring, we have extended the visiting fellowship opportunity to include May 2021 graduates. You can learn more on the Emergency Support Initiative page. I will share more information on the next phase of ESI as it becomes available.
In December, GSAS shared that we were launching a Scholarship Restart task force, based on what we had learned from the student survey we conducted in the fall. The task force has been working with academic departments to determine the highest priority of need. We will be piloting limited access to research and quiet spaces in the coming weeks for those students, with the hope of expanding the program later in the spring to more students identified by their department.
Harvard continues to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and provides updated information on the Keep Harvard Healthy website. In the Updates & Messages section, you will find a recent update on the vaccine, testing, and mask guidance sent to the Harvard community earlier this month. Many of us have questions about the vaccine, and the message outlines what we know to date. If you have recently returned to the area, I encourage you to read the HUHS reminders and updates, which includes important information about what to do before and after traveling.
Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to two important resources for your emotional well-being:
- Harvard University Health Services’ Center for Wellness offers online classes and virtual resources designed to help you maintain your personal well-being.
- Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) offers easy to access one-on-one and group sessions free of charge via video and telephone. Emergency services are also available 24/7 by calling 617-495-5711.
Please be well and take good care of yourself and one another as we enter what, I hope, is the final stretch of this unusual and challenging time.
With all best wishes,
Emma Dench
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History and of the Classics
