Dear Maverick Community,

Thank you to everyone who has weathered the past 18 months of COVID‑19 being in our lives and impacting what we do on a daily basis. While we were planning to “return to normal” this fall, the increase in COVID‑19 cases in the region a few weeks before the semester began required a different plan. Your willingness during this stressful time to continue to be nimble and understanding as we began our semester both in-person and online is appreciated. 

As a preventive measure, it was previously announced courses would be offered at a reduced density until Sept. 8. Since that time, the University’s leadership team and I have received much feedback and have actively sought out various points of view in order to hear the needs and concerns of students, faculty and staff. Additionally, we have been consulting with health experts and regional and statewide leaders, as well as reviewing the latest available data around COVID‑19.

Though the University continues to gather and evaluate COVID‑19 testing data, we are encouraged by the low positivity rate on our campus: approximately 1% since testing began on Aug. 13. Further, contact tracing efforts since the start of the semester have not identified any cases of classroom transmission, and the majority of the known COVID‑19‑positive cases on campus are asymptomatic or have only mild illness. 

With this information and after consultation with health experts, we feel comfortable making the decision to begin pivoting back to primarily in-person instruction by no later than Sept. 20. More detailed instructions for the faculty will be released soon from the Office of the Provost. Individual instructors will inform students if their class plans to pivot to in-person instruction before Sept. 20.

Also, further information on COVID‑19 testing, contact tracing, vaccinations and other mitigation plans will be sent to the University by the co-chairs of the COVID‑19 executive task force, vice presidents Lisa Nagy and John Hall, on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Finally, the Office of Human Resources will be sending a message to all employees containing the details of remote work accommodations, a timeline for return to work and the process for ADA accommodations.

I continue to be encouraged by the Maverick community’s willingness to do its part to protect each other. Let us together maintain this spirit of collective and individual responsibility:

The health, safety and well-being of our campus community remains our top priority and is of utmost importance. We will continue to monitor regional and local COVID‑19 data and consult with health officials to guide our plans for the fall. 

Thank you for your cooperation and patience as we work together in ensuring a safe and successful fall semester.