Dear international students,

We have received communication from some of you expressing your concerns about resuming in-person instruction this fall. We appreciate the particular challenges that international students face in coming to campus, and we have taken significant steps to safeguard the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff, while also ensuring that we continue to deliver the highest quality educational experience. We are committed to remaining in-person this fall. 

All units across the university are engaged in measures to protect our students. We are mandating that all students be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO-approved vaccine before coming to campus or upon arrival unless they have an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Because of rising case numbers globally due to the Delta variant, we are also mandating that masks be worn in all common spaces indoors and will require regular testing during the first several weeks of the semester to ensure that students transition as safely as possible into a community with very low levels of virus transmission. More information will be forthcoming about this required surveillance testing. Cornell Tech students should refer to testing information that has been sent to them from covid19@tech.cornell.edu. Cornell Tech students should also refer to this website. We expect this transition to go smoothly, and we will be adapting our safety measures throughout the semester to meet the demands of this rapidly changing pandemic.

Putting all of these precautions into place provides us with the reassurance that we can successfully hold in-person classes this fall, and we remain committed to doing so.

We recognize that international students have specific concerns surrounding their return to campus. There is information directly related to supporting international students on the International Services COVID-19 FAQ page. All new undergraduate international students will get access to information provided virtually at PREPARE this year (look for an email after August 19), and new graduate and professional students are invited to attend the upcoming international graduation and professional orientation. Additionally, Ithaca-based students can review the International Student Town Hall video we held on July 20 for more information.

We very much look forward to seeing you back on campus!

Sincerely,

Wendy Wolford, vice provost of international affairs
Brandon Lanners, executive director, Office of Global Learning