Resources and Updates for Fall Semester

 Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are well and doing your best to manage the rapid changes and uncertainty we are all facing. With just a few short weeks before the start of the fall semester, I want to provide you with the latest pandemic-related information and resources. We share information like this to keep you well-informed and to help you navigate situations we are all likely to experience this fall.
 
Resource Guides
Please take time to review this guide regarding what faculty and staff should do if a student is exposed, shows symptoms, or tests positive for COVID-19. If you have questions about this guide, please contact vcsl@d.umn.edu.

Understanding that there may be individuals who do not comply with the expected health and safety measures on campus, Student Life created this useful guide of strategies for encouraging compliance with face coverings to help you navigate those situations. 

Face Covering Distribution
All faculty, staff, and students will be provided two cloth face masks. These maroon and gold masks can be washed and reused. Faculty and staff will receive their masks in the mail in the next couple of weeks. Face shields will be distributed to face-to-face instructors and frontline staff who may need a shield to facilitate communication. Cloth mask distribution for students will happen around campus beginning August 24 at various distribution sites.   

Class Modality
As a quick update to the modality of classes being offered this fall, right now about 47% of undergraduate classes and 49% of graduate classes are either in-person or blended. Along with that, 80% of undergrads and 61% of graduate students have at least one in-person or blended class on campus. These numbers will fluctuate as students make changes to their class schedules over the next month.

Campus Access
Effective August 17, campus buildings will go back to their normal access hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

International Travel
The international restriction for all university travel by students, faculty, and staff has been extended to November 20, 2020. Domestic travel by staff or faculty using personal or fleet services vehicles is allowed, but faculty and staff domestic air travel for university purposes is discouraged unless absolutely necessary.

We strongly encourage all students, faculty, and staff considering travel, whether for work, study, or personal reasons, to explore the travel resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as your selected airline.

On-going Resources:

• UMD Return to Campus Website
• • Faculty and staff COVID resource page
  • FAQs
• ITSS Keep Working, Teaching, and Learning
• Office of Human Resources Workplace Guidance for COVID-19

As we continue to respond to life during COVID-19, many of us are experiencing unusual stress caused by health concerns, uncertainty about what comes next, and factors that are out of our control. I encourage you to take care of yourself and please continue to support one another. Take advantage of University resources as you need them. As indicated by the several communications you have received, we have plans in place to assist you, but there may be gaps. Please share with me or the Vice Chancellors what we are missing to help you have the best possible experience in these difficult times.

Thank you for your continued dedication to UMD and our students. 

Sincerely, 

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor