Dear UConn Community:

We have reached the point where our community must make decisions about many aspects of the spring semester. Because we cannot know right now what the COVID-19 conditions will be in the spring, our best approach is to model our decisions for the next semester on what we have done for the fall. With that in mind, student, faculty, and staff leaders have been hard at work reviewing plans and making decisions for how we will proceed with the spring semester. We have also been in frequent contact with local and state officials, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health is in full support of our plans.

Working together as a community we have made a number of decisions recently, which I am pleased to share here as a resource.

Academic Calendar
Based on the decisions of the University Senate, we shared earlier this week that the spring semester start and end dates will remain the same, and that spring break would move to April 11-17, 2021. The University Senate also approved two reading days before final exams. Click here to see the full details on calendar changes posted to the Provost’s Office website.

Instructional Modality and Quarantine Periods
With decisions made on the calendar, we next had to decide how to balance a required quarantine for residential students and re-entry student testing at the start of the semester and the return to classes. We heard from students that the two-week quarantine before the start of fall classes was challenging for a variety of reasons, so our decision for the spring has also taken that into account. Specifically, for spring:

• For the start of the spring semester, we will conduct the first two weeks of all classes remotely so residential students can quarantine at the same time as spring courses start.
• Following spring break, residential students will return home and the last two weeks of classes, as well as exams, will be conducted remotely for all students.

Both measures are designed for the well-being of our community. We expect that many of our students, faculty, and staff will be traveling back from numerous locations after the winter break and after spring break; remote learning during those times will help minimize potential contact. Additionally, as Thanksgiving provided in the fall, spring break will provide an opportunity for a reset for our students, faculty, and staff before entering the home stretch of the semester. We believe that instructors should use the format that they think will best support learning and student engagement during these two periods but, based on fall selections, it seems likely that many who are teaching in-person will utilize a distance learning synchronous format (DL).

Pass/Fail
The Senate made a temporary change in the by-laws for this academic year affecting pass/fail for undergraduates. The change extends the deadlines to add or remove courses as pass/fail and also extends pass/fail availability to undergraduates with fewer than 26 credits and undergraduates on scholastic probation. The Graduate Faculty Council has jurisdiction over academic regulations affecting graduate students, and the existing bylaws apply. Pass/fail is not available to graduate students. Click here for more details on the Provost’s Office website.

Course Registration for Spring
Registration will follow the planned schedule, starting on Oct. 26 and ending on Nov. 11 for undergraduates.

With considerable effort from our schools and colleges in partnership with the Registrar’s Office, the modality for each course will be listed at the time of registration. It is also notable that the detail and description of the modality options shared with instructors last month has been sharpened based on feedback from fall semester courses. These options seek to provide more clarity to both instructors and students on the expectations of course meeting times and format, and the proportion of remote learning to in-person learning. Click here to see the full listing of spring 2021 modality definitions on the Provost’s Office website.

Fee Reduction
We will continue to offer the fee reduction to help meet two goals: 1) de-densifying campuses; and 2) opening up opportunities for in-person courses for students in residential housing.

• A student may receive the fee reduction if they are not living on campus and they have no in-person courses.
  • Research and independent study courses will be labeled as in person no matter where they take place. Students will not be eligible for the fee reduction if they are enrolled in these courses.
  • Instructors cannot change the modality listing for individual students to make them eligible for the fee reduction.

 Housing
Residential Life shared an update last week that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will not allow the residential areas to be open at full capacity as hoped for spring. As such, we will need to continue under a similar model of around 50% occupancy. All residential students at Storrs and Stamford will have to participate in re-entry testing and a two-week residential quarantine. Students currently living on campus for the fall who wish to return for the spring semester will have the option to remain in their same assignment and keep their belongings in that assignment over winter recess. Click here for more information on the Residential Life website.

Similar to the current semester, the cost of housing and dining will remain the same as the previous academic year. In the unlikely case that a positive change in the landscape of the virus results in our being able to remain on campus after spring break and through exams, no additional charges will be added to housing and dining costs.  Moreover, similar to this fall semester and last spring, Residential Life will work with students who have no viable housing options for the remainder of the spring semester after the break.

If we are unable to continue campus housing up to spring break, pro-rated housing and dining refunds will be provided to students and will follow the University refund calendar.

Academic Town Hall and Future Announcements
We believe in the decisions that have been made about our spring semester over the past few weeks and it is important that we do our best to communicate the details and the rationale for these decisions. We hope this communication has value in that regard.

To continue the conversation, the University is hosting a town hall focused on academics for faculty, staff, and instructors next week, Friday Oct. 16 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The town hall will include a short presentation of key information and will then allow for questions. Click here for more information on how to participate in the town hall and to submit questions. Members of our community may send questions in advance by noon on Oct. 14.

While this message provides answers to many important questions for the spring, there are several other decisions that require more time, including how the University will undertake graduation. We will make these decisions in a collaborative and judicious manner, and as soon as we are able.

The last several months have been difficult for each of us in different ways; however, in that time I have also seen countless examples of our community working together and looking out for each other. I am proud to be a part of UConn Nation alongside each of you as we navigate unprecedented challenges.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear UConn Community:

COVID-19 and the return to the UConn learning experience have presented our university with unprecedented challenges. We write today to celebrate our ability to maintain our core values, give you more information about the presence of COVID on our campuses, and indicate our path forward.

COVID-19 at UConn

We have learned a great deal over the past several weeks about balancing community well-being and educational progress in the midst of COVID-19. Together, we have used our strength as a research university to solve a complex problem and reopen UConn safely. We are grateful to the partnerships that have emerged throughout our campuses, administration, student and campus services, UConn Health, and the academic schools and colleges.

Our current infection rate is around 1%. This is a remarkable accomplishment. To date, our spread among students is because of small interactions such as card games, common meals, and other informal interactions. For all of us, our risk of spread is avoidable through our own individual actions, as expressed in the UConn Promise. This includes monitoring your health, participating in random surveillance testing, following guidelines for mask wearing, hand washing, and physical distancing, and heeding medical guidance provided by your primary medical provider. These are all especially important as we head into colder weather and spend more time indoors.

While we are hardly declaring victory, it is important to acknowledge the hard work of our community to promote safety in maintaining a largely safe and healthy environment on our campuses.

UConn Research and Innovation

As we planned for reopening this fall semester, we benefitted from workgroups that were enriched by the research talents of many partners, including InCHIP, Institute for Systems Genomics, MARS, CLEAR, and our epidemiology expertise in UConn Health.

We encourage you to learn more about these intersections of research and practice through upcoming events. InCHIP is hosting a series of panels, detailed on their website. The Provost’s Office is also hosting a research forum that features panelists involved in the innovative work in wastewater testing and pooled sampling on the Storrs campus, managed collaboratively among MARS, Institute for Systems Genomics, CLEAR, and Student Health and Wellness. This forum is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 5 to 6 p.m. More information is available on the Provost’s Office website. We welcome suggestions for future panels via provost@uconn.edu.

The Path Forward

Plans are underway for the spring term, which we are approaching with optimism and humility, working closely with many organizations, including the Senate Executive Committee, AAUP, UCPEA, and USG. We expect to make key decisions prior to the opening of registration in late October building on what we have learned from the fall semester.

Spring will likely be quite similar to the fall with continued decreased residential occupancy (currently around 5,000 students at Storrs) and continued medical due diligence through testing and surveillance. Students received a message today with more details on housing availability, including the option to retain their housing assignment from fall to spring.

Student events and activities continue to be guided by activities and program information that is available here. We have learned that building safe and connected campuses is enhanced by small in-person and virtual activities, examples of which appear on the uKindness site. We welcome all campuses and departments to submit events and activities to uKindness.

We are grateful to students, including leadership in USG and GSS who have shared thoughts on maintaining a meaningful connection between instructors and students in the spring, and many other critical university actions.

Our physical and mental health are deeply entwined and many are experiencing stress during this time. Students are reminded and encouraged to utilize SHaW-Mental Health resources. Faculty and staff are reminded of the support provided through the Employee Assistance Program.

Thank you, UConn, for your combined effort in keeping us safe and allowing us to return to in-person learning and research. Thanks to all of you, we are in this for the long haul.

Sincerely,

Carl and Elly

 

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Eleanor JB Daugherty
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students