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To Our Campus Community:
During the current semester our faculty, staff and students have done tremendous work in following best practices for keeping our campus safe. Health authorities say campus continues to be one of the safest places to be during the pandemic.
However, these authorities have now advised us that the holiday season offers renewed risk as many in our community will travel back and forth between campus and home or other destinations during November and December, just as the pandemic is reaching new heights in Kansas City and across the country. The surge of COVID-19 has prompted Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, in partnership with local health officials, to announce stronger efforts to control the spread of the disease, including closing restaurants and bars by 10 p.m. and limiting indoor social gatherings to 10 or fewer people.
Out of an abundance of caution, the University of Missouri-Kansas City will transition from in-person classes to online beginning Nov. 30 for the remainder of the semester, including final exams. Exceptions will be any clinicals, labs or other experiential classes that have been in-person. They will remain in-person through semester’s end.
In addition, the UMKC campus will remain open through the end of the semester, including research laboratories, UMKC Libraries, food services, Swinney Recreation and all other student services from advising to student wellness to financial aid. They will continue normal operations as they have all semester. Campus residence halls will remain open as well, including over the Thanksgiving break at no additional charge for students who register to remain on campus.
Furthermore, there will be no change to employees’ work routines. They should continue to work as they have this semester, whether that work has been on campus or from home.
We have been prepared for this pivot to online, and we are committed to keeping our campus safe. Students, please reach out to your professors if you have questions about classes. Employees, please reach out to your supervisor or HR with any questions.
Per the change in city guidelines, we also will move immediately to limit all campus social events and gatherings, exclusive of non-event-based educational activity, to 10 people until further notice.
By taking these steps, we should be well prepared to begin our Spring semester on Jan. 19, following the current format as planned. But as always, we will continue to monitor the pandemic and change plans as necessary in response to public health recommendations.
We want to once again thank all members of our community for their cooperation and resolve in the face of this unprecedented challenge. We urge you all to continue to follow recommended public health and safety practices such as wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing and practicing hand hygiene.
Please continue to check your email for new information as well as the UMKC Coronavirus website for updates, daily notifications and resources. We ask that you continue to notify the university about positive cases so we can continue contract tracing. The impact of this pandemic is literally in our hands. Let’s take care of each other.
In this together,
C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D. Jenny Lundgren, Ph.D.
Chancellor Provost
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