Top B-schools in the United States, faced with the COVID-19 outbreak, are shutting their doors to classes in the campus, canceling scheduled events and tours and rescheduled for canceled in-person admission interviews.

The move by the schools over the last week comes in the wake of the more than 300,000 Coronavirus reported, with more than 13,000 deaths worldwide. The US has a total of 34,755 cases with 452 deaths reported so far.

COVID-19 Effect: B-Schools in the US Close Doors

Yale SOM Cancels Classes, Campus Visits, Postpone Reunion Weekend

Yale School of Management remains open but has moved all classes for the entire spring semester. All the staff not required for core, in-person functions have been asked to work from remote locations.

Visits to Edward P. Evans Hall, the main building that houses classrooms, faculty offices, academic centres and meeting spaces around an enclosed courtyard, remain suspended until further notice, the school said in a statement.

Yale SOM Reunion Weekend 2020, originally scheduled to take place on May 1–3, has been postponed. All scheduled events in Evans Hall through the end of the exam period have been canceled or have migrated to an online format.

All outbound school-sponsored travel during the spring break in March has been canceled. These include the faculty-led International Experience courses, student consulting engagements that are part of the Global Social Entrepreneurship course and Global Network Week, a series of modules on the campuses of schools in the Global Network for Advanced Management.

Berkeley Haas Moves Classes, Events Online, Cancels Admission Events

Meanwhile, UC Berkeley has moved all instruction and other functions to remote operations in keeping with the health and safety recommendations designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) and to protect the health and well-being of students, faculty, staff and guests.

All admissions events, class visits, and in-person new admit events remain canceled. The school will work over the coming days to convert as many in-person events as possible into online events.

Employees in the admissions offices for all MBA programs are now working remotely. They will continue to be available virtually for any questions.

For the full-time MBA, the Application review continues for fall 2020, and the school is on schedule to receive Round 3 applications. Admissions interviews have been transitioned to virtual formats.

Berkeley Haas will be hosting live online admissions Question and Answer sessions twice a day for the next few weeks. Sign up facility is available on the website.

Accelerated Access, a new Berkeley Haas program, will give undergraduates the option of applying early for a coveted spot in the full-time MBA program and deferring for two to five years to gain the required professional experience.

The program is initially open only to UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students in their final year of study, with a plan to expand to students throughout the University of California system and then more broadly in the future. Deadlines remain unchanged and are April 2 for Round 1 and June 11 for Round 2.

The school said because of the closure of many of the standardized test centres, candidates planning to apply in the first round and have completed all other application elements,  may still submit by April 2 and complete the exam at the earliest possible date in the future, but no later than May 21.

On the application, add a “0” as the score received. It will alert the admission committee to watch for your test scores to arrive. Also, email your unofficial scores once you have completed the test. The unofficial score will be added to your application pending arrival of your official score.

The second round timeline remains unchanged and the standardized test must be completed on or before June 11.

Letters of Recommendation (LORs) should be submitted as close to the April 2 or June 11 deadline as possible. While your application will be accepted without the recommendations, a review of your candidacy will be delayed until both LORs have been received.

Tuck Forms Task Force to Meet Virus Threat

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth has formed a high-level task force to plan for and manage possible disruptions related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The task force is holding daily meetings to update the latest information, consultations with experts, evaluate the risk factors and prepare for various scenarios.

All MBA courses have been moved to remote-only learning for the entire spring term, with no option for students to attend class in person. To the extent possible, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities will also be delivered remotely during this time.

All those returning from or transiting through a country that is rated as a CDC Level 2 or 3 will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days before coming to campus. Those returning from a CDC Level 1 country will be required to self-observe for 14 days before coming to campus.

The list of level 3, 2, and 1 countries is available on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Self-quarantine should take place off-campus. However, self-observation can occur on the campus.

All events involving the gathering of 10 or more people until May 9 should either be canceled, postponed, streamed/made virtual, or modified to lesser numbers. This applies to all gatherings organized by Dartmouth or Tuck hosted on Dartmouth property. The Admitted Students Weekend, scheduled for April 3-4, has been canceled.

On March 16, three members of the Dartmouth community living in off-campus housing were tested for COVID-19. One of these individuals, a graduate student, tested presumptive positive later that day. A second person, also a graduate student, tested negative.

The third student, an undergraduate, has been confirmed to be presumptive positive. This third student had voluntarily self-isolated while awaiting testing results and remains so. Students who had close contact with this person are self-quarantining off-campus.

Kellogg Postpones Reunion, Moves Classes Online

Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University said members of the community who have tested positive for coronavirus were currently in self-isolation off-campus.

“Kellogg and the University remain open and the core operations will continue, albeit in a new, more virtual environment. However, as we continue to closely adhere to CDC guidance only individuals who are essential to Kellogg’s ongoing operations can remain physically on-site as of 5 p.m. Friday, March 20 through April 3, 2020,” the School said in a statement.

“For those of you who are both essential to operations and experiencing symptoms, we ask that you please remain off of the campus at this time. As Kellogg prepares to deliver remote coursework that is in line with our exceptional academic curricula, the next two weeks may require certain faculty and staff to be regularly or sporadically onsite,” it added.

The Kellogg Reunion has been postponed until fall 2020. The new dates will be shared via email and on the Reunion website as soon as the plans are confirmed.

For prospective students, we will not be able to hold in-person meetings for the time being. Therefore, all events and interviews will have virtual elements and options.

The School said it was abiding by guidelines from the CDC and Northwestern University by canceling, postponing or moving to virtual all events scheduled through April 15.

“We are assessing events after April 15 based on the State of Illinois mandate from March 16 that all events or gatherings of 50 or more people be canceled or postponed for the next 8 weeks. Event owners are reaching out to speakers and attendees with more information,” it said.

Kenan-Flagler Suspends On-campus Admission Activities

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School said its admissions team was ready to help prospective MBA students and will work with all applicants impacted by COVID-19. There will be no change in the Round 4 application deadline of April 6 and the decision release on May 18.

“For the health and safety of our community, we’ve suspended all on-campus admissions activities and moved many to a virtual platform. We will continue to offer admissions webinars on a variety of topics, including leadership development, application tips and financial aid,” the School said.

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