YSE Orientation Information 2021
(May 13, 2021)
Dear Incoming YSE Class of 2023,
We are so excited to meet you all in August! While the term will formally begin on September 1, our Yale School of the Environment orientation - including three weeks of field-based training known as “MODS” – is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 9. Your MODS experience will include two weeks in New Haven and one week at Yale-Myers Forest, finishing on Thursday, August 26. In addition to MODS, there will also be orientation sessions scheduled by Student Affairs and Academic Affairs on the Fridays of these weeks and virtual self-guided resources provided for you to review in advance of the term. Details on these events and resources will be available later in the summer.
As has been our standard throughout the pandemic, YSE will be making decisions about activities and operations based on available science and public health guidance. With this foundation it is important to acknowledge that while we are planning to run orientation as described above, we may have to make adjustments should pandemic conditions change unexpectedly.
As described in an April 19, 2021 announcement, all Yale students will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to participate in on campus programming. The University is making provisions to vaccinate students upon arrival if they are unable to obtain vaccination prior to arrival. More information, including how students should document their vaccination status or seek medical and religious exemptions, and the vaccines that will satisfy the requirement, will be provided in the coming weeks. Students must plan to be fully vaccinated (at least two weeks after your dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccine or after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine) in order to participate in MODS.
International students who are unable to be vaccinated in their home countries with a university approved vaccine may come to New Haven to receive the vaccine from Yale Health beginning August 1. This vaccination timeline may not allow students to participate in MODS 2021, and students seeking vaccination upon arrival in New Haven may be asked to complete MODS in August of 2022 instead. We currently have adequate supply of vaccines and hope but cannot guarantee that we will continue to have adequate supplies in early August. Students seeking vaccination upon arrival in New Haven will be able to participate in classes beginning September 1 but may have to take extra precautions until they are fully vaccinated. International students, please check the Yale Health website for updated information in the coming weeks.
Before arriving on campus, students will be required to commit to Yale’s Community Compact which describes all public health restrictions, such as COVID testing, isolation and quarantine measures, and behavioral practices, which all must be followed in order to keep the community safe. A health and safety training will be required of all students as well. Students must have COVID testing on arrival with a negative test result and be fully vaccinated to participate in MODS.
Please feel free to contact Colleen Murphy Dunning, MODS Director (Colleen.Murphy-Dunning@Yale.edu) if you have questions or concerns about MODS. If you have questions or concerns about vaccination or COVID preparations at YSE, please continue to pay attention to the University’s COVID website where any new information will be posted.
Sincerely,
Colleen Murphy-Dunning, MODS Director
We are so excited to meet you all in August! While the term will formally begin on September 1, our Yale School of the Environment orientation - including three weeks of field-based training known as “MODS” – is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 9. Your MODS experience will include two weeks in New Haven and one week at Yale-Myers Forest, finishing on Thursday, August 26. In addition to MODS, there will also be orientation sessions scheduled by Student Affairs and Academic Affairs on the Fridays of these weeks and virtual self-guided resources provided for you to review in advance of the term. Details on these events and resources will be available later in the summer.
As has been our standard throughout the pandemic, YSE will be making decisions about activities and operations based on available science and public health guidance. With this foundation it is important to acknowledge that while we are planning to run orientation as described above, we may have to make adjustments should pandemic conditions change unexpectedly.
As described in an April 19, 2021 announcement, all Yale students will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to participate in on campus programming. The University is making provisions to vaccinate students upon arrival if they are unable to obtain vaccination prior to arrival. More information, including how students should document their vaccination status or seek medical and religious exemptions, and the vaccines that will satisfy the requirement, will be provided in the coming weeks. Students must plan to be fully vaccinated (at least two weeks after your dose of Johnson and Johnson vaccine or after your second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine) in order to participate in MODS.
International students who are unable to be vaccinated in their home countries with a university approved vaccine may come to New Haven to receive the vaccine from Yale Health beginning August 1. This vaccination timeline may not allow students to participate in MODS 2021, and students seeking vaccination upon arrival in New Haven may be asked to complete MODS in August of 2022 instead. We currently have adequate supply of vaccines and hope but cannot guarantee that we will continue to have adequate supplies in early August. Students seeking vaccination upon arrival in New Haven will be able to participate in classes beginning September 1 but may have to take extra precautions until they are fully vaccinated. International students, please check the Yale Health website for updated information in the coming weeks.
Before arriving on campus, students will be required to commit to Yale’s Community Compact which describes all public health restrictions, such as COVID testing, isolation and quarantine measures, and behavioral practices, which all must be followed in order to keep the community safe. A health and safety training will be required of all students as well. Students must have COVID testing on arrival with a negative test result and be fully vaccinated to participate in MODS.
Please feel free to contact Colleen Murphy Dunning, MODS Director (Colleen.Murphy-Dunning@Yale.edu) if you have questions or concerns about MODS. If you have questions or concerns about vaccination or COVID preparations at YSE, please continue to pay attention to the University’s COVID website where any new information will be posted.
Sincerely,
Colleen Murphy-Dunning, MODS Director