MIT to continue restricting campus access for the fall
Miller was “surprised by the announcement” because “it didn’t align with where [he] thought the conversation was with the administration.”
MIT releases draft of Strategic Plan on Graduate Advising and Mentoring
In order to incentivize faculty and thesis supervisors, an “Institute-level award that recognizes excellence in mentoring and advising” will also be created.
MIT graduate students vote to unionize, 66% in favor
75% of 3,823 eligible graduate students voted, with 1,785 students (66%) voting in favor of unionization and 912 students (34%) voting against.
MIT Pharmacy to close permanently April 29
No new prescriptions have been accepted since March 25, and refills will be processed until April 8.
MIT Class of 2026’s early admissions rate at record low 4.7%
MIT offered early admission to 697 students to the Class of 2026 out of 14,781 applicants, for an acceptance rate of 4.7%. MIT Admissions Assistant Director Chris Peterson SM ’13 announced the statistics in an MIT Admissions blog post on Dec. 18.
Majority of MIT graduates sign union authorization cards, GSU authors letter to Reif
The MIT Graduate Student Union (GSU) submitted a letter to President L. Rafael Reif, “announcing that an overwhelming majority of MIT’s 5,000 graduate employees” “signed union authorization cards” on Dec. 13.
New Course 6 major proposed in AI+Decision Making
The AI+D major would include machine learning, symbolic reasoning, computer vision, natural language, robotics, and medical AI.
MIT’s investments return at 55 percent, highest in more than 20 years
MIT’s endowment rose by 49.0% and $9 billion, to $27.4 billion in 2021 from $18.4 billion in 2020. Endowment makes up the largest portion of MIT’s total investments.
FPOPs conducted on campus after virtual events last fall
First-Year Pre-Orientation Programs (FPOP) were held on campus Aug. 23–28 or 29. All FPOP events were virtual last fall.
Sabatini resigns from Whitehead over sexual harassment
According to Lehmann’s email, a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion survey commissioned and conducted last winter” that “collected data and comments on the culture” across the Whitehead “identified issues of particular concern in the Sabatini Lab.”
MIT lifts many COVID-19 restrictions, removing capacity limits and lowering testing frequency
“Events sponsored by MIT departments, labs, centers, offices, and student organizations are now permitted” if all attendees are registered for contact-tracing purposes.
MIT to require COVID-19 vaccine for all students
All MIT students should be vaccinated before the fall semester begins and should share their current vaccine status via COVID Pass.
MIT admits 4.0% from unprecedented 33,240 applicants to the Class of 2025
621 students were admitted out of 18,204 Regular Action applicants, for a Regular Action admissions rate of 3.4%.
Q-Week extended due to students out of compliance with testing and violations reported
Q-Week restrictions were lifted noon Feb. 23 after undergraduates complied with testing requirements Feb. 22, and no positive cases were detected .
Full spring grading policy announced, students can elect one subject as PE/NE
All instruction must be “delivered remotely during the first two weeks” from Feb. 16 to 26.
Undergraduate move-in and in-person instruction possibly delayed until March
The development of the contingency plans comes as “positive cases and death tolls are on the rise” and in case “state and federal guidance becomes more restrictive” in the coming weeks, Barnhart wrote.
MIT sees ‘uptick’ in COVID cases
Stuopis wrote that several of the cases were “concentrated among” students at the Sloan School of Management and appear to be the “result of exposure away from campus, and do not reflect spread from person to person on campus.”
CAPD releases graduating student survey results
The survey seeks to “determine the plans of graduating students and data that will assist the staff” to “provide the best related and graduate school-related service to MIT students,” the GSS website writes.
Andrea Ghez ’87 awarded 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
Ghez is currently the Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received a B.S. in physics at MIT, and is the 38th MIT alumnus to receive a Nobel Prize.
MIT to ‘reconsider’ retail eateries in student center
Dunkin’ Donuts reopened Sept. 22. Its franchisee, which also operates the Cambridge Grill, “is cautiously considering plans for reopening the Grill based on Dunkin’s volume in the coming weeks,” Hayes wrote. Anna’s Taqueria, Cafe Spice, Shinkansen, and Shawarma Shack remain closed. La Verde’s has not given MIT Dining “a timeline for their reopening.”
135 undergraduates cancel on-campus housing assignments
Of the undergraduates living on campus, 613 are seniors, 21 are first years, 78 are sophomores, and 72 are juniors.
Undergraduates returning to campus during fall to participate in mandatory Quarantine Week
During Q-Week, students “cannot have direct contact with anyone else, including prospective podmates,” and may only leave their rooms to “use their assigned bathroom,” “get packages or meals,” or exercise outdoors.
2.009 to be replaced with abridged 2.s009 in Fall 2020
2.s009 will “follow an abbreviated version of the product development process used in 2.009,” and “teams will develop products inspired by a very open-ended theme,” the department wrote.
FSILGs adapt recruitment to virtual semester
The Interfraternity Council (IFC) will postpone formal recruitment until spring while the Panhellenic Association (Panhel) will hold virtual recruitment in the fall.
UA-led BLM fundraiser matches over $25,000 in donations to five organizations
As of press time, the UA has received receipts from 138 donations, totaling $27,000, from students, alumni, staff, and faculty.
MIT transitions to Canvas from Stellar and Learning Modules
“A modern LMS allows instructors and students to engage in ways that are difficult, or impossible, in Stellar,” Rajagopal wrote, citing examples such as embedding videos, accessing course materials on phones and tablets, syncing with calendars, grading assignments within the LMS, and student content sharing and collaboration.
Class of 2023 to declare majors virtually
Much of the process for major declaration has remained the same despite the disruption caused by COVID-19. Most notably, the deadline of the declaration form has not changed.
MIT admits 687 students in Early Action admissions
There were 6,792 applicants (73.1 percent) deferred to be “reconsidered without prejudice” in the Regular Action round, while 1,622 students (17.5 percent) were rejected.
Israel Ruiz, MIT executive vice president and treasurer, to step down
Ruiz developed renewal plans for the MIT campus, guided by the MIT 2030 framework, and helped transform the nearby Kendall Square. He also helped launch the online course programs MITx and edX — created in conjunction with Harvard University.
UA, GSC finalize members for two new student committees
The Undergraduate Association and Graduate Student Council selected student members for two newly-created committees, the Student Committee on Guidelines for Outside Engagements and the Student Committee on Campus Climate and Policies around Discrimination and Misconduct Nov. 12. Five undergraduate and five graduate student members were selected for each committee from a final pool of ten undergraduates and ten graduates.