The global health emergency continues to evolve, with governments around the world closing borders, recommending strict policies of social distancing and sheltering in place, and taking dramatic and critical steps to limit the spread of the virus.
COVID-19 has moved quickly and without precedent, presenting both an existential threat from a public health perspective and a significant challenge to both the global economy and individuals around the world.
My highest priority continues to be the safety and security of our grantees, our alumni, and my staff.
Just over a week ago, we were looking at a voluntary early return scenario. Today, we are at the tail end of a decisive push to bring everyone home, having reached out to every one of our students and scholars who were on their exchange this semester.
The US Fulbright Program has been suspended for the time being. The foreign student and scholar programs are operating at a significantly reduced level.
Most universities in Canada and the United States have moved to an online delivery model for students. They have, quite wisely, made every effort to restrict in-person activities that are not essential.
As a practical matter, new travel, programming that involves direct contact, and all spring and summer programs are canceled or postponed. Please see our Program Updates section for details.
I have effectively closed the office, and all of my staff are teleworking.
We are now moving ahead with a suite of online programs and activities, which we will be rolling out over the next few weeks.
We intend to introduce a suite of virtual engagement opportunities for current grantees, our alumni, and an even broader audience, with a clear focus on continuing to support the exceptional commitment of our university partners.
We are fully committed to providing critical networking opportunities and professional development opportunities for our grantees and our alumni.
We are looking at a variety of online initiatives, including symposia, lectures on critical issues facing our community and the broader world, community leadership projects, and, of course, some old fashioned academic discussions and debates.
We are also looking at creating a 'grand challenge' competition for our students and scholars to find a way to move forward in this particularly challenging climate.
I will be providing more details on these new initiatives in the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, we will be canvassing grantees, alumni, our alumni advisory board, and our board of directors for ideas and future direction.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have ideas.
We are confident that digital engagement is critical to our collective success as we weather this storm and that our community will stand together and continue to facilitate international mutual understanding and support the awesome power of human knowledge.
The future may, indeed, be nearer than we thought.
Thank you all for your commitment and your resilience during this difficult time. We are looking forward to working more closely with all of you, even if it is mostly online for now.
Stay safe,
Michael