3/12/2020
TO: Center Students
SUBJECT: President’s Announcement: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Communication to UIU Faculty and Staff
Summary of Email Message to Center Students:
Session 4 face-to-face courses will now begin on March 23, 2020
Online courses will continue to begin on March 16, 2020
Go to UIU’s website for additional information https://uiu.edu/coronavirus/.
Dear Center Students,
The purpose of this message is to provide an update on University preparations and announcements related to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and the impact on UIU’s domestic centers.
Session 4 Face-to-Face Courses: These have been delayed by one week with the new start date of March 23, 2020, with a possibility that the remainder of Session 4 may need to be shifted entirely to online learning. A decision to make the official determination to online learning will be made on March 19, 2020; this determination will be based on continued conversations with local public health agencies.
To reiterate, the current plan is to continue face-to-face instruction during Session 4, beginning on March 23 and ending on May 7, 2020.
If you are enrolled in online courses, you will continue to begin your online course on the original start date of March 16, 2020.
Events: We are reviewing events scheduled for the upcoming months. At this point, the decision has been made to cancel all center Graduation Receptions scheduled in the coming weeks. A decision has not been made regarding our 2020 Commencement. All events are under a thorough review and announcements will be forthcoming.
Cleaning and Preparation: We continue to monitor and follow guidelines communicated by local public health agencies. UIU has mobilized a planning group that will guide implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as cleaning protocols) at centers and develop contingency plans to manage University operations in the event of an outbreak in local communities.
Travel: We encourage you to be informed prior to any travel plans you may have. The CDC offers up-to-date travel information on their website https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
As you know, the local, national and global circumstances can change quickly. We are communicating any new guidance we receive through continuous updates of the website https://uiu.edu/coronavirus/.
As a reminder, please follow good public health practices to minimize the spread of illness. Officials suggest there is no need to change any routine activities or behaviors due to COVID-19 if you practice the previously described hygiene etiquette.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that any student experiencing the following symptoms of acute respiratory illness (e.g., fever, trouble breathing, consistent coughing) should refrain from going to class and limit their contact with others until they are free of fever (100.4° F or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g., cough suppressants). Any student experiencing symptoms of this nature is encouraged to call appropriate medical care to avoid unnecessarily exposing others.
The intent of these measures is to keep our university community healthy and safe.
Thank you for your patience during this rapidly changing situation.
Sincerely,
William R. Duffy II, Ed.D., Ed.S.
President
Upper Iowa University
