Prospective Graduate Student Visit | March 9th

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your interest in our research group. I am looking forward to speaking with everyone tomorrow. Since all of the social events are cancelled, I will be hosting one more group video meeting tomorrow at 5pm-6pm. (Zoom link posted Slack).

In the meantime, if there are questions you would like to discuss with me or with the SALT group, please use Slack to start these conversations. You should have received an invitation to a Slack channel for our group.

For those of you who are on campus, the in-person meetings remain an option available to you. Those of you who are here, it is up to you if you prefer to call in from your hotel room, or attend the visit-day events via video-conference.

If you would like to meet in person, my office is in 4169 Etcheverry Hall. If we are meeting virtually, please use the Zoom link (posted on Slack). Either virtually or in person, I look forward to meeting you and discussing with you. The as-scheduled meeting times remain unchanged.

Remember that Berkeley is on Pacific time (three hours earlier than East Coast time, two hours earlier than Central time, and one hour earlier than Mountain time). Remember also the daylight savings time hour change that took effect today and update your watches or clocks and try to get enough sleep (since we’ll be waking up one hour earlier next week 🙂 ).

Lastly, a few campus resources that you might find useful:

This website provides some guidelines on staying healthy. Please keep in mind that as we take steps to help ensure the health and safety of our community we also want to be respectful of everyone. We ask everyone to follow our Principles of Community and learn more about stigma and how to correct it with facts and information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In light of this. the polite professional interaction will be to not shake hands when we meet in person. Elbow bumps are the acceptable alternative (though I’ve never practiced elbow bumps, so apologize in advance if they’re awkward, but I suppose I’ll learn as I go).

We encourage everyone to view the helpful resource information, including tips on proper hygiene such as lathering your hands and washing for at least 20 seconds, as well as mental health resources, on the UHS website. For COVID-19 travel-related questions, UHS has set up an advice line. Please call 510-642-6622 during business hours.

The situation regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) is dynamic and consequently guidance from public health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changes frequently. Please review the content on the COVID-19 campus website regularly. These are trying times, so we encourage everyone to take care of themselves and be sensitive to the needs of those around you.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or concerns on this matter, and I will try to find answers for you. If you are attending meetings virtually, please let me know if there is any interaction that I can help better facilitate virtually. This is an unprecedented and dynamic situation, so when not everything is running smoothly, please let me know so that I can help and connect you with those on campus that you were hoping to connect with.

Hopefully the Slack channel will help with communications with the SALT group. If you are on campus, my office is 4169 Etcheverry, and the SALT group student office is in 4116 Etcheverry.

Best,

Raluca