MIT plans for return to full in-person learning and work arrangements in Spring
The email writes that when the semester starts Jan. 31, MIT expects to return to “operations resembling those of the fall semester,” including the return of all classes to in-person learning and of “most employees to the schedules and work arrangements” in place prior to December 2021, when the Omicron variant began its spread in the Boston area.
MIT announces in-person Commencement celebrations will take place May 26–28
MIT announced dates and format changes for the two Commencement celebrations taking place this year — a OneMIT ceremony for Class of 2022 graduates and a celebration for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 — in a Dec. 23 email from Chancellor Melissa Nobles.
Reg week, last week of IAP, spring term
Registration week for the spring term is Jan. 24–28.
Icy IAP is not icky
Looking ahead to next week, get excited for some precipitation! Rain and snow are projected in the forecast, so get ready to see water fall from the sky in multiple forms!
640 positive tests reported by MIT Medical in past seven days
MIT’s positivity rate is lower than the Cambridge 14-day average of 6.37% and the Massachusetts 7-day average of 21.61%, but the rate of positive cases has increased significantly from the fall semester, where the highest 7-day positivity rate was 0.28%.
Pre-registration, boosters, MLK Jr. Day
Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. is the final deadline for continuing students to pre-register for the spring and the deadline for continuing students to select preferences for spring CI-H/CI-HW subjects.
MIT charged, along with other universities, in federal lawsuit for illegally limiting student financial aid awards
The suit, filed Jan. 9, claims that the defendant universities used a shared methodology to calculate applicants’ financial aid, which resulted in price-fixing and unfairly limited financial aid.
Cold wave sweeps over the southeast
The weather this weekend will be crisp but sunny – perfect for a walk outside to clear the winter blues. Just make sure you bundle up, and maybe keep your mask up to protect your cheeks from the biting cold.
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.
MIT requires boosters, updates isolation policies and IAP plans in response to rise in positive cases and Omicron variant
In response to a local and global rise in COVID-19 cases and the spread of the Omicron variant, MIT is requiring all eligible community members to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster by Jan. 14 to access MIT buildings. MIT has also updated its isolation and quarantine practices, event policies, and Independent Activities Period (IAP) plans.
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.
Pre-registration, January ASEs, boosters
The Spring pre-registration deadline is 5 p.m. on Jan. 6.
Celebrate the return of IAP with a snowstorm
A winter storm watch is placed for Rhode Island and parts of eastern Massachusetts later tonight, leading into early Friday.
56 positive COVID-19 tests reported by MIT Medical in past week
The month of November saw the most positive COVID-19 tests at MIT (184 out of 132,743 tests) this semester, compared to 77 (out of 140,111) in October and 118 (out of 142,267) in September.
Provost Martin Schmidt to become President of RPI next summer
Schmidt graduated from RPI with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1981 before receiving a master’s and a doctorate from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) in 1983 and 1988, respectively.
Splash took place Nov. 21–21 with over 500 high school participants.
Splash, MIT’s largest annual teaching and learning extravaganza run by MIT Educational Studies Program (ESP), takes place 20-21 November.
Holiday rays will stay — dismay!
Record warmth is arriving this week along with the start of meteorological winter! What a strange time of year.
Last day of classes, finals, pre-registration
Dec. 9 is the last day of classes. Final exams will take place Dec. 13–17.
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.
Alumni town halls held to discuss freedom of expression and community at MIT
The MIT Alumni Association held two hour-long town halls over Zoom to discuss “Freedom of Expression and Community” Nov. 22, with one at 12 p.m. and one at 8 p.m.