TEI Extends Policy of No In-Person Meetings.

• Position: INSTITUTE NEWS

In mid-July, in the face of the widespread health and safety dangers posed by COVID-19, TEI announced an Institute-wide policy barring in-person meetings of any sort and at any level within TEI through the end of calendar year 2020. The Institute acknowledged that policy statements are extremely rare and are appropriate only in the most extreme circumstances--such as when the health and safety of the Institute's members are at risk. By expressing a clear and unambiguous policy, TEI hoped to relieve Institute leaders of the pressures and uncertainties associated with balancing competing points of view and perspectives.

Since that time, leadership and staff have closely tracked public health regulatory developments, the science (for example, the widespread availability of effective vaccines), the policies in place within the advisory community (for example, the willingness and ability of our speakers to travel), and the travel and lodging policies of the companies that employ our members. Although there has been some progress with regard to the science, little has changed in public health requirements and the general...