Coronavirus Update June 4, 2020: UCCS returning to campus for the fall

Update

Coronavirus Update June 4, 2020: UCCS returning to campus for the fall

Current Coronavirus (COVID-19) Situation - UCCS returning to campus for the fall 

A university is a collection of its people, not its buildings, and all decisions made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been made with the safety of our students, faculty and staff as the top priority. While we have learned we can accomplish a great deal remotely, we know that our students, faculty and staff want to be back on campus to learn, research and collaborate again.

To accomplish this, we created five recovery teams to study and recommend how to reopen campus facilities safely this fall per public health guidelines. I want to commend everyone on those teams for the work they have done, and I appreciate their commitment to the work that remains ahead of them. 

Upon their recommendations, we will implement a flexible, in-person experience for the full fall 2020 semester, providing a mixture of in-person and remote coursework. Fall semester classes will begin as scheduled on August 24, and residence halls will welcome incoming students. We will continue to monitor conditions and make adjustments throughout the semester to keep faculty, staff and students safe.

While our recovery teams continue to work on specific cases, the following guidelines will be in place for courses in the fall:

  • All courses will operate within required social distancing between individuals and face coverings will be required. New occupancy floor plans are available for some rooms at returnto.uccs.edu and will continue to be uploaded as they are completed.
  • Colleges, departments and faculty working in collaboration with Cabinet members will recommend course capacities and which courses can return to campus. Some courses are likely to remain in a remote format.
  • Courses that return to campus will be prioritized by those with unique requirements, such as laboratory courses, studio courses, courses that require on-campus specialized equipment, upper-division specialized courses and first-year experience courses.
  • Colleges and their faculty will recommend the best methods to teach courses within all safety parameters and to the needs of the course that ensure the best opportunity for success.
  • Classroom assignments and class delivery methods will be published by late July.

In addition to how classes will look in the fall, we also know timelines for some areas of campus:

  • Housing assignments are expected to begin the week of June 15.
  • Information about other campus units will be announced later this summer at returnto.uccs.edu as they are finalized. The Kraemer Family Library will be among the first areas to return to support the academic needs of faculty and students.
  • Intercollegiate athletic teams will follow all NCAA guidelines, in addition to public health guidelines, and resume individual practice and training June 8.

I know that this does not answer all your questions. As our recovery teams continue to finalize their work, we will be posting information at returnto.uccs.edu, and I encourage you to check it frequently for the latest updates.

As we plan to bring courses and activities back to campus this fall, we know that things can change quickly. For the health and safety of our Mountain Lion Family, faculty, staff and students should be prepared to go back to a remote environment if required.

We have never faced a challenge like this before, but I am proud of everyone affiliated with UCCS – faculty, staff, students, alumni – for their resilience, flexibility and patience during this pandemic. We will come through this stronger and better together.

Stay Mountain Lion strong,

Venkat Reddy 
Chancellor
 

 

Read the previous update

Read the last update

You can see the last update from May 21 here.