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Summer 2021 Law School On Campus Access

 

We are pleased to announce that law students and recent graduates preparing for the bar exam will be able to join a limited on-campus cohort for the purpose of using the Jacob Burns Law Library during the remainder of the summer according to standards set forth below. As in the spring semester, those granted access must commit to participating in the cohort, and no requests for removal from the cohort or opting out of reminder emails will be processed. The procedures below are only for those students or alumni who choose to seek such access.

 

Requirements for Obtaining Permission

Students or alums must request permission from the Dean of Students for law library access no later than Monday, June 7, 2021. Requests must be made by submitting a completed application that includes the student or alum's name, GWID, commitment to having a GWorld card, and a statement demonstrating that the student/alum agrees to follow all university protocols for on-campus access. The purposes for which access may be granted include quiet studying--not meeting with groups, or conducting general research. The on-campus protocols include daily symptom screening and weekly COVID-19 tests. 

For students and alums selected after the application period, the Dean of Students will forward their information to the Office of the Provost. Once students/alums have received notification from the university that they have been accepted into the on-campus cohort, they will receive additional communication iterating the COVID-19 and campus access protocols as outlined in the application. As a member of the summer cohort, you will be responsible for the following:

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement - GW will require students, faculty, and staff who are in person this fall to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to being on campus. Any vaccine authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organization (WHO) will be accepted. We encourage you to get the vaccine now in anticipation of satisfying the fall requirement. Once you have received the final dose of the vaccine, you must upload your vaccine documentation to the medical portal, and it must be verified. This is a manual process and may take up to a week. Additional information about GW’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement is available online.


COVID-19 Testing - You must schedule your initial COVID-19 test as soon as possible and upon arrival to campus.

The testing requirements for the summer on-campus cohort are as follows:

  • If you are fully vaccinated and have verified documentation on file with GW, you are required to participate in monthly COVID-19 testing.
  • If you are NOT fully vaccinated, you are required to complete daily symptom monitoring AND participate in weekly COVID-19 testing.  
  • Additionally, if you have traveled outside the District of Columbia, Maryland or Virginia, you must quarantine on your arrival to campus. Indicating the travel on your daily survey will place your account into travel quarantine. The university’s Campus COVID Support Team (CCST) will release you from travel quarantine after you receive two negative test results from a campus testing site spaced five days apart.

Regardless of vaccination status, you may take a voluntary test at any time by scheduling an appointment through the medical portal.


How to Make an Appointment for COVID-19 Testing
COVID-19 testing is available at both the Foggy Bottom and the Virginia Science and Technology campuses. Summer 2021 hours of operation are available online. You must make an appointment through the medical portal. More information about what to expect if you have a positive or negative test is available online.

Symptom Monitoring
If you are not fully vaccinated, you will be required to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms and report any symptoms daily through the medical portal. You will receive an email daily reminding you to complete the tracker.

Law Library Access Procedures

The law library will be open for students/alumni to use Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. To use the library, students/alums will be required to make a reservation using the Libcal reservation system. The link to the reservation system will be provided only to those students/alums who have been given permission to use the library by the Dean of Students. They can make reservations no sooner than the day before they seek to access the library, and must make them by midnight of the day before they seek to access. 

 

In addition to their name and GWID, students/alums will be asked to provide their cell phone number (so that library personnel can contact them in the library if their time has expired and they have not checked out). Students/alums will be limited to using the library for a maximum of four hours on any day. No more than twenty students will be permitted in the library at any given time. 

 

The reservation form asks students/alums to confirm that they have complied with testing protocols and puts them on notice that failure to do so or to follow library policies during this period could result in a charge of a violation of the Code of Student Conduct.  The reservation form also sets out the following rules:

  • The student/alum must be able to show the green “badge” supplied by the GW Colonial Health Center on her phone or device.
  • Masks must be worn at all times while using the library.
  • In order to enforce the mask policy, no food or drinks are permitted in the library.
  • Students/alums must depart at the end of their reserved time.
  • There are no collaborative spaces in the library.  All areas of the library are reserved for quiet, individual study.
  • Seating is permitted only in designated sets. Chairs must not be moved to different locations.
  • Social distancing is required at all times. All directional signs must be followed.
  • Students/alums are permitted to go only into the Burns Law Library and to the printing stations in the Stockton lobby.

 

Arriving at the Law Library

When a student/alum who is a member of the cohort with an activated ID comes to the building, they will be able to access Burns using the pad at the building entrance. Only the entrance at 716 20th Street will be enabled. The student/alum also will use the ID to enter the turnstile inside the library, which will also be enabled.  

 

Once in the library, the student/alum will go to the Circulation Desk to be checked in. The student/alum will be informed that they must return to the Circulation Desk to check out upon departure, and reminded to follow all library safety procedures.

 

Other Law Library Services 

Students who do not join the on-campus cohort for law library access may still make use of the library’s services. The staff of the Burns Library is ready to provide research materials electronically or on a "grab and go" basis as they have since the beginning of the semester.  Students also may gain “emergency one-time access” to scan materials without being a member of the cohort.