Update: Resuming Move-in and Instruction Delivery Modes

 Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

With approval from our Board of Regents, along with University of Minnesota System leadership, on August 24 we made the decision to delay the start of most in-person classes and student residence hall move-in for at least two weeks. Taking a brief pause to learn from the challenges other universities around the country were experiencing as students returned to their campuses, allowed the University to adjust its approach in combating the virus. This was essential to providing a higher level of safety for our students, faculty, and staff.

Today, we have a way forward that allows us to adapt the extensive plans that have been developed over the summer, and offers a return to on-campus life that prioritizes your health and safety while best positioning all of us to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Maroon and Gold Sunrise plan adds a layer to existing plans for Fall 2020, and specifically addresses how we will welcome undergraduate students back to our residence halls. It also includes a September 14 return to face-to-face and blended instruction, in addition to the online and remote teaching we are currently using.

The Maroon and Gold Sunrise plan requires everyone’s participation if we are to be successful. In particular, the undergraduate students who live in on-campus and near-campus housing all have an enormous role to play. Watch this video with students and Champ to see health and safety measures around campus. It won’t be easy, and it won’t look anything like a traditional fall on our campus, but I believe if we all commit to this plan, commit to our health precautions, and fully utilize the MTest plan, we can continue with on-campus courses, active residence halls, and certain other activities this semester.

The plan has four steps, each with different expectations. Below is an overview; the full Maroon and Gold Sunrise plan has more detailed information about each phase.

• Step 1: Stay in assigned housing for ten days, with limited exceptions.
  • Students remain in residence halls for ten days after arrival except to attend classes; use dining facilities, campus health services, library, recreation and wellness facilities; or to shop for necessities. They may also be outdoors if following physical distancing guidelines.
  • Students may be granted exceptions for medical or mental health appointments or family emergencies.
  • Students may report to on- or off-campus work shifts.
• Step 2: Increased access to campus and the surrounding community, with 10 p.m. return to residence halls.
  • For two weeks, students who have completed Step One will have greater campus access. In addition to the locations allowed under step one, students can also visit Kirby Student Center, other on-campus locations, and the surrounding community.
• Step 3: Full access to campus and the surrounding community, with a midnight return to residence halls.
  • Students have full access to University facilities and surrounding communities in accordance with existing University, city, or state COVID restrictions.
  • We expect Step Three to last approximately two weeks.
• Step 4: COVID normal operations, during which students will continue having full access to campus and the surrounding community with all appropriate health and safety protocols, but no longer have any limits on when residents must return to their rooms on any given day. Reverting back to a previous step could be required if warranted by public health conditions on or around campus.

For students living off-campus who may be taking in-person courses and visiting campus facilities, please limit your on-campus interactions if possible. We encourage you to continue to be safe, wear a face covering, maintain physical distancing from those not in your household, and to get tested if you have COVID symptoms or are instructed to seek testing by a public health or medical official. The MTest program is available to all students regardless of where you live, so please utilize it should you feel sick.

We will also be sharing our plans with officials, business owners, and landlords in the neighborhoods and cities where our campuses are located, to ensure they are aware of our plans and to request their help to promote a successful semester.

Students, I know this is a lot to ask, especially of the many of you who will be experiencing campus life for the first time. It will be a challenge, and I want you to know I have such confidence in each of you. Your choices and judgement at each step will play a critical role in allowing us to progress to the final phase, and your work to keep yourself and others safe and healthy will pay off in the opportunity for all students to remain on campus, rather than reverting to distance learning as we did in the spring.

I send you this message with the full conviction that together we can do this and do it well. We will show our communities, our state, and the country that the University of Minnesota continues to be a leader in COVID-19 research and clinical care, as well as a model for a blended approach to teaching this semester.

Thank you all for your commitment to a healthy and safe semester. In addition to the plan linked above, remember to visit the UMD COVID Safe Campus website and watch for additional information to be sent this week specific to your living or learning plans.

Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor