|
Dear UMKC Family,
I want to share with you some significant decisions for our UMKC campus related to the rapidly evolving developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. The safety and wellbeing of our campus and community are always at the forefront of our decision-making. With that in mind, we have decided the following:
- We will suspend in-person classes at the end of today and classes will resume Monday, March 16, in an online format at their usual times. Classes will be cancelled tomorrow, March 13, to give faculty time to prepare. More details below for students, faculty and staff.
- We are cancelling spring and summer study abroad programs for our students.
- Effective immediately, all university-related international travel is cancelled until further notice as well as nonessential domestic travel, including previously approved travel. This includes travel connected to university activities or programs for all faculty, staff and students, whether that travel is funded by the university, an external grant, or any other sources. Requests to engage in essential travel must be approved by deans, vice chancellors or the interim provost.
- All nonessential university events will be cancelled until further notice.
- The Western Athletic Conference cancelled its tournament in Las Vegas today, and will be cancelling all spring athletic events until further notice. Our No. 1-seeded Women’s Basketball Team will advance directly into the NCAA tournament, if it proceeds next week. Non-conference athletic events will proceed this spring, but with no spectators other than essential sports staff and limited family attendees.
| |
It’s important to note that as of Thursday morning, we still have no known cases of COVID-19 on the UMKC campus. However, Kansas health officials on Thursday announced three new cases of the coronavirus in neighboring Johnson County, Kansas — residents who had traveled to a conference in Florida. The first case in the area was also from Johnson County, a woman who had traveled to the northeastern United States.
While coronavirus cases continue to be on the uptick locally and nationwide, we are doing our part to limit exposure to our campus family and to limit the spread of the disease. We are working closely with our University of Missouri System colleagues and our local health department to implement policies and practices that promote the well-being of our community.
Please refer to our website for the latest information, which includes the latest COVID-19 and related campus updates, resources and FAQs. If you have a question that is not answered there, or have other information to share, please send an email to umkcfeedback@umkc.edu. We are responding to those queries as quickly as we can. We also continue to work with a cross-campus group to plan our coronavirus response, including consultation with the leaders of our faculty, staff and student government groups.
Here’s a quick summary of the latest news:
Move to online classes
When classes resume all-online on Monday, March 16, the campus will remain open, including residence halls and dining halls, etc. That means all faculty and staff should plan to report to work as usual. As that work is conducted, bear in mind best practices of social distancing or using technology as an alternative to face-to-face meetings.
Faculty still may access their offices and classrooms and are expected to continue to hold office hours and other normal activities, though some of these may be via remote technologies. Please refer to a UM System teaching resources website for resources to maintain teaching continuity during this time, or consult this UMKC-specific FAQ page.
Each academic unit, in partnership with the Provost’s Office, will make decisions about how to handle clinicals, labs and other experiential learning and will communicate that separately to faculty and students. Stay tuned.
Important note for students: please take your computer with you during spring break as there may be further communication regarding coursework online as the coronavirus situation continues to evolve.
Travel
During spring break from March 23-27, we urge students to carefully consider any personal travel they undertake domestically or internationally in coming weeks, based on latest CDC advice. Each week, new hotspots are identified within the United States, as well as new cases internationally.
UMKC will continue to prohibit university-sponsored travel to CDC Level 3 countries, and also will not be hosting visits from those countries. In addition, there’s a new federal ban on travel from Europe (excluding the United Kingdom) to the United States for non-U.S. citizens for the next month, starting Friday.
In addition to the cancellation of spring and summer study abroad for our students, we also are strongly recommending that any students currently abroad in non-Level 3 countries return to the United States. If those students do decide to return, they must call the health department in Kansas City at 816-513-6008 or their home city as well as our UMKC Student Health and Wellness Center at 816-235-6133 and seek their guidance on whether they need to self-quarantine. If they must be quarantined, we strongly advise that they do this at home if they are able. If not, the Student Wellness Center can advise on alternatives. Travelers are prohibited from returning to campus unless they’ve been cleared.
Health monitoring
If you take a personal trip to a Level 3 country, we ask that you stay home upon return to the United States, call the Kansas City Health Department and self-monitor for 14 days. After the self-monitoring period ends and before returning to campus, provide health information to the UMKC Student Health and Wellness Center, and receive approval to return to campus.
If you take other personal international travel, we ask that you follow the protocol above – contact the health department and student wellness offices and follow their guidance so you can be cleared to return to campus.
Other resource guides
We recognize that the ever-evolving coronavirus situation creates many unknowns for faculty, staff and students. We have put together resources that will answer some of the most frequently asked questions for faculty, staff and students. We will be adding to those questions regularly over time, based on changes in the coronavirus landscape or based on the questions you are submitting.
As always, we appreciate the way you are supporting each other and our university during this challenging time. Together, we can get through this.
Sincerely,
| |
|
C. Mauli Agrawal, Ph.D.
Chancellor
| |
|
|
|
|
