To: Wellesley College Students
CC: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: Andy Shennan, Provost and Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56 Dean of the College; Ann Velenchik, Dean of Academic Affairs: Megan Núñez, Dean of Faculty Affairs
Re: 2020-21 Academic Curriculum
Date: April 24, 2020

During this time of uncertainty, planning around the next academic year continues and we are pleased to share this update for students about the fall curriculum with the broader community.

We are more than halfway through our period of remote instruction, and we hear from your instructors that you and they are working hard to make this experience successful. We are grateful to you all for your dedication to your studies and for the flexibility and resourcefulness you have shown as we transitioned to this new format.

This is the time of year when our community’s attention turns to planning for the next academic year, and we are writing with some updates about that process. We have moved forward with our normal procedure for introducing new courses into our academic program, and at its meeting last week the Academic Council approved the College’s 2020–21 curriculum. We will open the course browser on Monday, April 27 so that you can explore our planned offerings, including a number of exciting new courses, and also consult with your faculty advisors about the options that appeal to you. The browser does not include schedule information, but it does include full course descriptions and all the other information you are used to seeing.

We will issue a course schedule, and announce registration dates, once plans for fall are finalized. We apologize for the delay but we believe that it is better to wait and register once than to have to change plans. At last week’s Academic Council, President Johnson and Provost Shennan reported that they have assembled a working group to consider options available to the College should the pandemic continue to disrupt our academic and residential programs into the fall. Because there is still considerable uncertainty about the course of the pandemic and the public health guidance we will receive, we are working on a number of alternatives. We will share our plans with the community in the coming weeks, and then proceed to course registration.

The pandemic is requiring all of us to live with uncertainty and to cultivate patience. We assure you that we are doing everything in our power to make the best possible decisions for the fall, and we will keep you informed as that process unfolds.