Dear <<First Name>>,
As we come to the end of a semester like no other, we wanted to take a moment to reach out to you to extend our best wishes for your health and that of your loved ones, and to reaffirm that despite our remote status, you remain a valued member of our community. We assure you that we will do everything possible to welcome you back to campus when it is safe to be together again.
We also wish to offer our warmest, most sincere congratulations to those of you who will graduate this month and earn a Berkeley degree. It is an incredible milestone; you and your loved ones must be so proud. We celebrate your achievement and look forward to your continual engagement as a member of the Berkeley community.
Fall Semester Planning
For those of you who will return in the Fall - as you may have seen in messages from campus leadership, we are heavily engaged in planning for fall semester. We are considering scenarios ranging from fully remote instruction to a hybrid model to something that resembles normal operations. Our decisions on this will be guided by the advice of local public health authorities, in our case, the City of Berkeley and Alameda County, as well as the State of California. Regardless of whether we are able to be physically back on campus together, please be assured that we will continue to offer instruction remotely so that wherever you are, you will still have access to UC Berkeley’s incredible faculty members, graduate student instructors, advisors and undergraduate and graduate student support staff.
Supporting Your Student Experience
We also want you to know that we are using the results from the surveys you recently completed to inform how we can better support you during this challenging time. Beyond the support that is being provided to you by the broader campus, the Berkeley International Office (BIO) is continuously adjusting how they can best serve you. They have taken the lead to organize webinars to support your experience, and in advance of the May 15th deadline, BIO continues to receive, and are presently reviewing over 200 applications for financial assistance for those who have been impacted financially by COVID-19. We hope that you have been taking advantage of these resources. BIO will continue to keep you updated with the latest information related to visa processing and travel restrictions.
Diversity is our Strength
Finally, we are of the firm belief that knowledge production should not have boundaries. Our academic and research enterprise, the life within our classrooms and laboratories, and the rich tapestry of student activities are all enriched by the diversity that you, our international students, bring to our experience.
We look forward to being together again, and will continue to serve you in the meantime.
Fiat Lux!
Carol Christ
Chancellor
Randy Katz
Vice Chancellor for Research
Lisa Alvarez-Cohen
Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Senior International Officer
Lisa García Bedolla
Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division
Cathy Koshland
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
Stephen C. Sutton
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
This message has been sent to all UC Berkeley international undergraduate and graduate students.
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