2020 BASAA Spring Conference Postponed

We hope you are all staying healthy during this crucial time. It has certainly been a unique time for all of us, and we hope that whatever transitions you might be currently undergoing are going smoothly. We wanted to write to you all with an important update regarding the BASAA Spring Conference. 

We deeply regret that due to the ever-evolving challenges being presented by COVID-19, we are unable to host the 2020 BASAA Spring Conference at Simmons University on May 8th. We have had to unfortunately make the difficult decision to postpone the conference to a future date. 

This was not an easy decision for us to make; however, at the same time, given the current state and nature of the COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusetts, we felt that many things have already been decided for us and for the safety of our community. As many of you are aware, many universities have decided to go remotely for the rest of the Spring 2020 semester, and as a result, this has led to the cancellation of all meetings and events scheduled on campus (including at Simmons University) until mid-May. The health and safety of our community is of the utmost importance. Given the uncertainty on how the current situation will continue to develop, we felt that at this time and since we were just in the beginning stages of planning the conference, that it would be best to postpone once there is more clarity and direction on how to move forward. 

We feel (and hope you all do as well) that the BASAA Spring Conference is a cherished event and professional development opportunity for our community of international educators here in the Greater Boston Area, and we sincerely hope that we will be able to host this event in the summer or fall of this year. As BASAA Co-Chairs, we will be monitoring the situation over the coming weeks and continue to seek out guidance on how we can continue to best serve our community. This, of course, is very disappointing for us as we’ve just begun our terms as BASAA Co-Chairs, and we know this will come as a disappointment to you as well.  

This has been an incredibly challenging time for all of us, both professionally and personally, as we continue to try to navigate the impact of COVID-19. We can only imagine based on our own experiences how difficult this has been at your institutions and organizations. We hope that we can continue to find ways to support one another in the community during this time as the situation is ever-evolving, and we would encourage you to share any ideas that you might have as to how the BASAA Community can support you all as well. 

Our thoughts are with those who are personally impacted by this health crisis, here and around the world, as well as the institutions and organizations that are facing unprecedented challenges as things continuing to evolve with the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Thank you for your understanding, and we hope to connect with you all in the near future. Stay healthy and safe.
 

Sincerely,
Lea Girasole, Alyssa MacNeill & Grace Twardy
Boston Area Study Abroad Association
Tri-Chairs