Harvey Mudd College has delayed in-person summer research due to coronavirus concerns.
Some research will proceed remotely, beginning at the end of the semester as scheduled, Mudd Dean of Faculty Lisa Sullivan told TSL via email Wednesday. Only remote research will proceed in the month of June.
The college has not yet determined if campus facilities will open in late summer, Sullivan said. Harvey Mudd will have a “better sense” of whether facilities will open in 4 to 6 weeks, and will decide the fate of research that cannot be completed remotely after that point.
No summer research projects have been canceled at this time, Sullivan said. Faculty managing individual projects are contacting students to determine what work can be completed at a distance.
Sullivan could not answer questions about how students would be compensated, the timelines of research projects or whether remote projects could be held in-person in late summer, citing uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re waiting, along with so many others, to get a sense of the progression of the virus, state and local orders and the like,” Sullivan said.
Harvey Mudd’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program regularly hosts approximately 200 Mudd students for 10 weeks of full-time research, according to the HMC website. Students complete research projects across all seven departments of the college, with close to 40 faculty members.
Pomona College announced last month it would suspend its 2020 Summer Undergraduate Research Program, in which more than 200 students participate each summer.
Maria Heeter SC ’22 is an economics major from Dover, New Hampshire. She previously served as TSL’s fall 2020 editor-in-chief.