President Hanlon: COVID-19 Task Force’s Work Comes to an End

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Operating decisions related to the pandemic to be managed by the provost and the EVP.

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Dartmouth Hall
(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
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With reduced COVID-19 restrictions for the summer term and plans underway for transitioning to normal operations in the fall, President Philip J. Hanlon ’77 this week announced that the COVID-19 Task Force will end its work on Aug. 1.

“Assuming that public health conditions continue to remain favorable, the task force will be disbanded over the course of this month, making sure that information is transferred to the appropriate units, and that any final pandemic-related communications are made,” President Hanlon wrote on Tuesday in an email to the community.

As of July 6, the task force is no longer reviewing or making recommendations for operating decisions. Regular processes in each division—decision-making processes that existed prior to the pandemic—have been reinstated. Decisions relating to final campus-wide restrictions and operations, which are expected to be lifted by late August, will be managed by the offices of the provost and the executive vice president.

Information on the Dartmouth Together website will be limited to essential institutional policies, and the COVID-19 dashboard will be updated twice a week instead of daily.

“We will continue to monitor the global response and, while we are hopeful about the path forward, we may restore parts of our task force should it be needed,” Hanlon wrote.

Hanlon recognized the important work of the task force led by co-chairs Lisa V. Adams, a physician and a professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine, and Josh Keniston, vice president of campus services and institutional projects.

“They undertook an enormous challenge in addition to managing their regular responsibilities to help us respond effectively to the shifting pandemic landscape. Please join me in offering them our heartfelt thanks for their dedication, thoughtful decision-making, and sustained efforts on our behalf.”

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