Find the latest information on the University’s response to the coronavirus here.

Below are archived communications that were distributed to the University community regarding the coronavirus.

June 17: Message Detailing Return to Grounds Plans

To the University Community,

We hope this note finds all of you well during this incredibly difficult time for our country and the world. With so much uncertainty these days, we write to provide a measure of clarity on one issue we know many of you have been wondering about: our plans for the upcoming academic year at UVA.

Last month, we sent a letter outlining our decision-making process and some of our thinking about the fall. Today, our goal is to share a more complete framework for the next academic year. We have a good deal of information to cover, so we will be as concise as possible, providing details about, among other things, our academic plans (including new options that will increase flexibility for undergraduate students), residence and student life, public health measures, and our focus on equity during this process. Much more information and FAQs are available on our new Return to Grounds website and Fall 2020 Student Resource site, which will be updated frequently to convey decisions and information.

Here’s the basic plan:

Return to School

This summer we are phasing in our return to on-Grounds academic life. Guided by public health requirements, we are in the midst of a return to research in our labs; several schools have welcomed professional school students; and we are planning for more in-person educational offerings later in the summer. We do this planning even as we plan for the fall.

Assuming federal and state guidelines allow it, we plan to start the fall semester on time—with undergraduate courses beginning on Tuesday, August 25th. First-years and other students living on Grounds who wish to return will move in on a staggered schedule over several days. (Start dates for our graduate programs are available here.)

For our undergraduate schools, there will be no fall break, and in-person instruction will end by Thanksgiving. In an effort to minimize travel and possible transmission of the virus, students will not return until the new year. Students will receive more information about what will happen after Thanksgiving from individual schools.

Academic Options and Flexibility

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges for students and their families. For that reason, we have adapted so that students have additional options this coming year.

We are welcoming all students who wish to join us to be back on Grounds. Unlike in the past, however, we have designed this fall so that students can take courses from wherever they are. (The few exceptions will be practicums and other courses that require a specific in-person experience for licensure.) While we hope and expect that many students will return to Grounds, we also know and appreciate that others will need to or choose to stay in their home communities. Regardless of where students are, our aim will be to provide all of them an engaging and enriching academic experience.

Because of social distancing requirements and their effect on our classroom capacity, large classes will be all online. We will, however, offer as many in-person classes as we can. For classes and sections offered in-person, there will be a remote option for students who are not on Grounds. The deans and faculty in every school are thinking creatively about how we can maximize the number of in-person classroom experiences; decisions about which classes will have an in-person option will be made based on the format of each class, our classroom capacity in light of public health requirements, and the availability of faculty instructors to teach in person. Students can expect to hear more from individual schools in the coming weeks and no later than the end of July, which is before the start of the add-drop period.

We have also created an option designed to offer undergraduate students more flexibility while still earning a full year’s worth of academic credit. In addition to fall and spring courses, every undergraduate student will have the opportunity to take a January term course and a course in the first summer session of 2021. While these courses normally require the payment of additional tuition, next year they will be included within the regular tuition for fall and spring semesters. To enhance our offerings, we are designing new, interdisciplinary courses for the January and summer terms. These courses, tailored specifically for this year’s new and returning students, will be taught by professors from across the University and will explore some of today’s most relevant topics—from the science of pandemics, to racial justice, to analyzing the 2020 election. Most students will therefore have the option, depending on their degree program requirements, to spread out what would normally be taken in fall and spring over fall, J-term, spring, and summer. Schools will provide additional guidance on this, and you can find more information here.

Finally, as always, undergraduate students will be able to request a deferral (gap year) or leave of absence. The deadline for new students to apply for a deferral through the Office of Undergraduate Admission is July 1st, and current students may request leaves of absence according to individual schools’ policies. Students who plan to live in the dorms will be asked to confirm whether they plan to join us in the fall by July 1st.

Our graduate and professional schools are thinking creatively about how to tailor their programs to these new conditions. Deans of graduate and professional schools will be communicating directly to their students about plans for Fall 2020 in their respective schools.

Faculty and Staff

The success of every aspect of these plans depends on the dedicated and talented faculty and staff of this University, whose health and safety is of paramount importance. Just as we know that some students will not return to Grounds this fall, we know that even with the extensive precautions we describe below, not all faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants will be in a position to resume in-person work and teaching.

We will make every effort to grant requests to work or teach remotely or for other reasonable accommodations or modifications in light of COVID-19. We are mindful that individual circumstances make some individuals more vulnerable than others to the effects of this disease. As always, employees entitled to reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act will receive them. Beyond that, we will prioritize requests for modifications from those who are at higher risk for severe illness, as well as anyone with a household member at higher risk. Outside of those categories, we will make every effort to grant reasonable modification requests. As deans, department chairs, and managers plan for the fall, they will work with Employee Relations and HR Business Partners to honor requests while considering the impact on and constraints of research, curricular, student, and workplace needs. We are keenly aware that each individual and unit of the University is as unique in our needs, constraints, and opportunities for flexibility as we are united in the common goal of excellence in teaching, research, and patient care.

Just as faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants may currently request modifications directly from their dean, department chair, or supervisor, those comfortable making COVID-19-related requests through those channels are free to do so. Anyone concerned about privacy or confidentiality may instead submit this form to Employee Relations. Schools and units will follow up with additional details about implementation and timing. Let us say in advance: We know how much we have asked of you already this year, and we know how much what lies ahead will require of you and of us. We are beyond grateful.

Student Life

First-years and other students living on Grounds will be in double rooms by default, as they have been in years past, and will be able to choose their roommates. We made this decision in consultation with medical and public health professionals, and we are making changes to residence halls and bathrooms to reduce risk. Students in residence halls will be assigned to specific sinks, stalls, and showers, and we will be limiting the number of students allowed in a communal bathroom at any given time. Housing and residence life staff will work with residents to apply social distancing guidelines to all communal spaces and to make additional changes, as necessary, such as assigning specific doors for entry and exit.

In-person dining on Grounds will be provided consistent with social distancing requirements and will include more options for takeout. While many activities will be held virtually, there will be opportunities for in-person gatherings and events that meet university and public health guidelines. We are also developing additional guidelines, including around limiting travel to and from Grounds. Those decisions are being made now, and we will share more information once we have it.

Athletics

We are planning for fall sporting events to be held on Grounds, and student athletes will be hearing from coaches about steps that will allow them to train and compete safely. We have not yet made final decisions about fan attendance, but we will communicate plans to our ticket holders and supporters as those decisions are made.

Public Health Measures

We have made and will make every single decision about our plans in close consultation with physicians and public health professionals.

Every student, faculty, and staff member who will be on Grounds this fall will have to meet certain health and safety requirements designed to keep members of the UVA and broader community safe. Students and their families will receive details about these requirements over the summer and will be asked to agree to them as a condition of returning to—and remaining on—Grounds.

While parts of our plan are evolving, some parts are settled and will include the basics we all know well by now: social distancing, the wearing of face coverings, encouragement of frequent hand washing, and enhanced cleaning of the environment. We are modifying our facilities to operationalize these essential elements that help prevent the spread of the virus. As noted above, dining will be available, but modified consistent with these basic rules. Libraries, labs, studios, and study rooms will be open, provided they can accommodate social distancing and other health requirements. Anyone sharing a classroom, lab, dining hall, lounge, or other common space will need to maintain a six-foot distance for any contact longer than 10 minutes. The University will enhance its cleaning of these spaces, including classrooms. Face coverings will also be required in common spaces, and physical barriers will be provided in libraries and in public-service locations like dining hall cashier stations and help desks. We will be providing all students, faculty, and staff with personal protective equipment, including masks, and will be installing hand sanitizing stations across Grounds.

We are creating, in concert with the Virginia Department of Health, a comprehensive COVID-19 testing plan that will include students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. We have settled on some of our plans (outlined below), and we continue to evaluate others. In the latter category, we are still evaluating the options for testing our students for COVID-19, including whether we will test all students upon arrival. We will make an announcement on that in the coming weeks. Below, however, are the elements of testing strategy that are settled:

Students, faculty, and staff will be required to track their symptoms daily using an app.

We are and will continue to offer testing to anyone who exhibits symptoms.

In addition, we will make available voluntary testing for faculty, staff, contract employees, and students who are concerned and may not exhibit symptoms. These tests will be available through an online schedule.

In partnership with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), UVA will help support voluntary testing of community members.

We are working closely with the Virginia Department of Health to effectively trace contacts of anyone who contracts the virus.

Once classes start, we will perform testing and other monitoring to assess the prevalence of viral infections; we will be monitoring Grounds closely and respond with increased testing to detect any asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases anywhere where our examinations suggest there might be a cluster of cases.

We have plans to isolate students living on Grounds who test positive for the virus, and to quarantine students who have been exposed.

Our testing and community tracing plans raise important issues of privacy, and we are committed to protecting the privacy of student records and health information. That commitment will guide us as we create protections that will limit access to that information consistent with relevant statutes like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). More information about our plans and these privacy protections will be available in the coming weeks.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that both expert knowledge and developing technology around COVID-19 continue to evolve quickly. Relying on our expert team, we will be closely following all of this, and will stand ready to modify our plans in light of the best information and technology.

Expectations

The steps above are designed to keep students safe, protect all faculty and staff, and prevent the spread of the virus in the broader Charlottesville community. In this case, the actions of even one person can affect many others. Keeping people healthy—and keeping students on Grounds—will require all of us to do our part.

For that reason, and consistent with our strong tradition of student self-governance, we are working with students on a set of expectations that will govern student behavior on and off Grounds. As noted above, students will receive details about the public health requirements that will apply next year and will be asked to agree to them as a condition of returning to and remaining on—Grounds. In addition, the undergraduate and graduate student members of our Fall 2020 committee are deeply involved in this effort, along with a diverse and inclusive group of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. This work will continue in the coming weeks, aiming to design and implement a campaign to promote social-distancing behavior and the other essential elements of our public health strategy. Any student who has suggestions or ideas about the campaign may submit them here.

***

Faculty, staff, students, and parents will receive more specific guidance in the coming weeks, and all the latest information, as well as an updated list of frequently asked questions, can be found on the new Return to Grounds website and Fall 2020 Student Resource site.

We will continue to work around the clock on our plans to re-open the University and welcome back our students, faculty, and staff. In the coming weeks and throughout next year, we will continue to rely on our team of experts tracking the evolution of the virus and the related public health guidelines that could affect our plans.

As noted at the outset, as we prepare and then implement our plan, our work will focus on equitable treatment of the most vulnerable members of our larger community, including our students with financial challenges, our employees whose work exposes them to particular risks, and members of the greater Charlottesville community who are affected, deeply, by our actions and to whom we must be good neighbors and partners. As we move forward in our work, we will put together a working group of students, faculty, staff, and community members whose singular focus will be on issues of equity related to our return to Grounds and next fall.

Finally, please understand that some or all of what we are sharing today could change based on the spread of the virus, the advice of public health experts, or an order by the Virginia Department of Health. We sincerely hope that will not be the case, but our top priority will always be keeping our entire community safe—and we will let you know if circumstances require us to adjust.

All of this will make life—and this semester—more difficult, but our hope and expectation is that we can come together in these extraordinary times and make the best of an incredibly difficult situation. Doing that will require flexibility and patience. But if the past is any indication, this year will also push us to be more creative, inspire us to be more selfless, and in many ways bring us closer together than ever before.

This is a special community that has done some amazing things over the last few months, and we will need to summon that energy and spirit once again in the fall. We look forward to working with all of you to meet this moment and make this coming year a memorable and successful one.

Best,

Jim Ryan

President

Liz Magill

Provost

K. Craig Kent

EVP for Health Affairs

J.J. Davis

EVP and Chief Operating Officer

May 28: Message to the University Community

To the University Community,

With the semester over, the degrees awarded, and summer break officially underway, we want to thank all of you for helping us bring this difficult, memorable, and truly extraordinary year to a close. It was only possible due to your hard work and resilience under incredibly challenging circumstances, so please accept our deepest thanks.

Beyond thanking all of you, the purpose of this email is to update you on the topic that is foremost on all of our minds: planning for the fall. We are still planning to announce our final framework for the fall in mid-June, but we would like to take this opportunity to share some of our planning assumptions, in part to seek your feedback.

First, a brief note about the process to date. We have been guided by our desire to offer an exceptional experience for our students and, at the same time, to safeguard the health and safety of the UVA and Charlottesville community. Just over a month ago, we created a committee charged with identifying – and proposing answers to – the major questions needed to determine when and how we can safely welcome students to Grounds in the fall. The committee is chaired by our provost, Liz Magill, and includes faculty, staff, students, and a member of the Board of Visitors. We recently added some new members to the committee, including Ellen Bassett, the outgoing chair of the Faculty Senate and faculty representative to the Board of Visitors for next year; Kevin McDonald, our vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion; and Tre Tennyson, chair of the Graduate and Professional School Council.

The committee’s work has been focused on several areas: 1) Determining the date by which we must make a decision about the fall semester; 2) Identifying the safest date on which we could resume classes on Grounds and what conditions might apply; 3) Thinking about alternative academic calendars and options for classes; 4) Looking at ways to support faculty in creating an amazing online experience; and 5) Considering the impact of these decisions on the University’s finances and operations.

Around each of these topics, committee members have fanned out across the University and in the community to seek input and expertise. We have asked many to participate in this work – faculty, staff, students, University leaders, public health experts, and members of the Charlottesville community. We have also been in close contact with our counterparts at colleges and universities in Virginia and across the country. In order to bring as many student voices into the process as possible, the committee has conducted several surveys, including separate surveys of undergraduate and graduate and professional students. Seventy-three percent of undergraduate students responded to the survey. With the Faculty Senate, we held a virtual town hall on Wednesday, May 27th, and we launched a faculty survey earlier this week. We plan to conduct staff town halls, polls, and surveys as well.

The committee’s work is not yet finished, and, as mentioned, we will announce a framework for next academic year in mid-June. We nonetheless want to share our current thinking, both in the interest of transparency and in the hope of continuing to draw on the collective wisdom of our community.

To begin, our current plans are to start the fall semester as planned, with undergraduate courses starting on Tuesday, August 25th (start dates for graduate programs are available here). Assuming state and federal public health guidelines allow, we are planning to have students back on Grounds and to hold in-person classes this fall. We are still trying to determine how many students we can have safely back on Grounds and living in dorms, and how many in-person classes we can host, given social distancing restrictions.

What we do know for sure is that larger classes will remain online all semester, as will classes taught by faculty who have health concerns. Classes that are offered in-person, with the exception of some practicums, will also be available remotely, since some students will not be able to return to Grounds. Most students will have the option to remain home in the fall and participate in classes remotely. Most students will also have options to defer or take a gap year, as always.

To increase student options even more, and to make sure that all undergraduate students can earn a full year’s worth of credits no matter how they start, we are looking into expanding our January Term course offerings. This will allow students a chance to take a lighter load of classes in the fall, whether in person or online. We are also considering additional ways to allow students to stretch their classes across a longer period of time than the traditional academic calendar. More details will be forthcoming, including from programs and professional and graduate schools that may have unique requirements and different constraints.

While the fall semester will start on time, we are planning to finish in-person instruction by Thanksgiving. Students will not return until the new year, which will minimize the inevitable risk associated with travel back and forth to Charlottesville. We are still determining if we can host exams before Thanksgiving or whether they will be offered remotely.

To keep students, faculty, staff, and members of our community safe, we are developing protocols for testing, tracing, and isolating anyone who tests positive for COVID-19, as well as identifying spaces to quarantine on-Grounds residents exposed to those who have contracted COVID-19. We are also acquiring personal protective equipment – including masks – for students, faculty, and staff. And we are developing social distancing guidelines, as well as norms and rules around these guidelines. This includes making plans for managing dining halls, libraries, and recreational facilities, as well as for ramping up scholarship and research – which we are preparing to do now.

This fall will not be a normal fall, even with some students back on Grounds and some classes being held in person. There inevitably will be greater risk in having students return, and we will be placing a good deal of trust in our students to look out for the safety and well-being not just of each other, but of our faculty, staff, and community members. In some ways, it would be easier simply to be online all fall, or perhaps all year if the risk presented by the virus is not materially different in January than it is in August. But there are risks to that route as well, including obvious financial risks, but also less obvious but equally important educational and health risks.

We also believe we should do our best to be open for students, for several reasons. One of UVA’s greatest strengths is our world-class residential learning experience – something that, as all of you know by now, cannot be fully replicated online. We also appreciate that learning remotely is much harder for some students than others, given different living arrangements, family circumstances, and family obligations. There is also no end in reasonable sight for this virus, which makes it even more imperative that we do our best to adapt.

Finally, we emphasize that these are our current planning assumptions and that we are still in a fairly rapidly evolving situation. We will continue to adapt to new information, as we must in a pandemic of this nature. We also realize that no decision we ultimately make will be universally popular. Some will think UVA is moving too quickly or aggressively, while others will think we’re being too slow or cautious. What we can promise you is that we are working night and day to rely on the best information we have to make the best choices we can – not only for the health of UVA and our community, but for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of going to college. We are still in this together, and we are all going to need to draw on the collective creativity, flexibility, patience, and selflessness that we saw on full display this spring. It really was UVA at its very best, and we are going to have to be even better this fall.

Thank you, and we hope you and your families stay safe and well. We’ll be in touch with more information in mid-June.

Best,



Jim Ryan

President



Liz Magill

Provost



K. Craig Kent

Executive Vice President for Health Affairs



J.J. Davis

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

May 5: End-of-Semester Notice to International Students and Scholars

Dear UVA International Student and Scholar:

As we have grappled with the public health emergency associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Virginia has made a number of important decisions about the University’s operations. These changes have affected the entire community in dramatic ways; they have had especially significant effects on our international students and scholars. We write to assure you that you are an integral part of our community, and we are committed to supporting you through these unprecedented challenges.

This has been a rapidly changing situation with new information emerging almost every day. The single most important goal remains doing our part to slow the spread of COVID-19, while continuing our missions as best we can, and making certain that our own community is cared for, supported, and remains safe.

The coronavirus continues to spread nationally and in the Charlottesville area as well, but mitigation efforts fortunately have helped to “flatten the curve.” For those of you who have returned to your home countries, I hope the transition to a virtual academic environment has gone relatively smoothly and you have found assistance when needed. We will also help you access summer courses remotely, as they become available, so you will be able to continue your instruction if you wish to do so.

For students who remain in Charlottesville in our residence halls, the University is pleased to extend University housing on Grounds from May 9 to May 24 at no additional cost. You can read the detailed housing message here. As noted in this message, if you are unable to return home when you leave on-Grounds housing in May, you are encouraged to begin thinking now about your housing plans for the summer. You may wish to check the University’s off-Grounds housing partners’ website, offgroundshousing.student.virginia.edu. There you can create an account and search for short-term rentals and summer sublets, according to your needs and plans.

As the U.S. continues to deal nationally with the pandemic, we cannot predict the complications that may arise from policy changes in the U.S. and other countries, including visa delays, border closures, and reduced travel options. Before undertaking any travel in connection with your enrollment at UVA, please continue to look for information from UVA’s International Studies Office and refer to your local U.S. embassy’s website through the U.S. Department of State for updates.

The International Studies Office remains available to work with you in considering options for managing the challenges connected with your enrollment during this difficult time. Please reach out to issp@virginia.edu with any questions or concerns.

Regardless of these challenges, one thing is certain: we are absolutely committed to continue providing a high-quality education to all of our students, including our international community, and overcome the pandemic-related obstacles we face together. Recently, President Ryan charged a planning committee to develop recommendations for the upcoming fall semester. Provost Magill is chairing the Fall 2020 Planning Committee, and it includes representation from across the University. The committee will consider a number of topics about the fall, including multiple scenarios around the academic delivery of courses. Additional information about the committee can be found here.

We would also like to take this opportunity to affirm our commitment to international diversity at UVA. Xenophobia and racism (bias) have no place in our community. As we work together and care for each other in this time of crisis, here are some resources you might find helpful: Community Care Statement and Resources. You should promptly report any acts of bias by using the Just Report It website.

We will continue to reach out to you with updates and information as needed. Please reach out to us with any questions or if you need support during this time.

Sincerely,

Stephen Mull

Vice Provost for Global Affairs

Allen W. Groves

University Dean of Students

April 29: Board of Visitors Statement on UVA’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

The University of Virginia Board of Visitors released the following statement today regarding the University’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic:

“On Monday evening, the Board of Visitors participated in a virtual meeting to discuss the University’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our discussion included the actions UVA leadership has already taken to move the University online and to support students, faculty and staff in this period of unprecedented difficulty. We discussed the uncertainty around the progression of the virus in Virginia and the need to prepare for multiple scenarios for how the University may operate in the upcoming fall term. We also received an update on the major financial toll this crisis has taken on the University, particularly on UVA Health, as much of its operations have been suspended during this time. Additionally, we took preliminary steps to ensure that the University has expanded capacity to borrow funds if needed in the future.

“This pandemic has disrupted every element of University operations and changed life for members of this community in ways too numerous to count. The creative, compassionate and resilient response of the UVA leadership, student body, faculty and staff to this crisis is the clearest expression of what President Ryan means when he talks about a University that is great and good. We commend the steps the administration has taken to help mitigate the extraordinary strain this crisis has placed on the most vulnerable members of our community, including establishing new emergency funds to support people struggling with lost income. We recognize the difficulties many people in the UVA community are experiencing as a result of actions that were necessary to stabilize the University’s finances and will continue to evaluate the need for additional steps to help our colleagues, friends and neighbors in this difficult time.

“While no one knows how long this pandemic will last or how severe the costs will be, we are fortunate to have leaders in every corner of this University who are finding ways to deliver on our mission of excellent academic instruction, life-changing research, world-class health care and strong partnership in the Charlottesville community. The Board of Visitors is grateful for the work and the sacrifice of so many who are responding to this crisis and we are ready to continue the work of navigating this difficult period as one UVA community. We are confident the University of Virginia will endure this crisis, learn some valuable lessons about creativity and resilience, and continue its pursuit of being the best public university in the country by 2030.”

April 27: How Students May Retrieve Their Belongings

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Many of you have been waiting patiently for this information, and today I am happy to share details on how students will be able to come back in May to retrieve their belongings from the residence halls. We are sending the message to all parents and guardians in the interest of sharing the information broadly.

Please note, this message only pertains to undergraduate students who lived on Grounds and to graduate students who lived on the Range. I am pleased to share these plans also include students who lived in Bice, Bond, or one of the three language houses (Shea, Maison Francaise, and Casa Bolivar). In response to a request from UVA Health, we prepared plans and procedures to use these five buildings to support the regional pandemic response, which Housing & Residence Life shared with students on April 5 and 6. Due to successful mitigation efforts, the University has not needed to use these buildings thus far, and we do not anticipate needing them in the near future.

Students received a message from University Dean of Students Allen Groves a short time ago. It includes the link to the message students received from Housing & Residence Life with very detailed information about the move-out process. I will highlight several key points:

Students will have two primary options from which they can choose. They include returning with one person to move out of their housing themselves, or designating an individual to handle move-out for them. As a last resort, if students are unable to make a move-out appointment in May, they may choose to have their possessions packed and stored at the University’s expense, or they can pay to have their belongings shipped to them at the time of packing.

Students will need to let Housing & Residence Life know which option they select no later than May 21 .

. The move-out period will run from Monday, May 4, through Sunday, May 24 . If students choose Option 1 or 2, they will need to select an appointment time and be sure to arrive promptly.

. If students choose Option 1 or 2, they will need to select an appointment time and be sure to arrive promptly. Anyone feeling ill should cancel or reschedule their appointment.

It will be important to follow safety and social distancing directives during the move-out process. This includes following CDC Guidelines, including providing your own face coverings and maintaining a distance of six feet from others.

If your student is one of the 213 students who received permission to remain on Grounds this semester, they will receive more individualized instructions for move-out.

The pandemic has been an incredibly difficult experience for all of us. Even if we have not been directly touched by the loss of life, COVID-19 has brought stress in many forms. We recognize the added stress for you and your student with regard to move-out. We hope the options available to you and your student will ensure a combination of safety, flexibility, and resolution as we work together during this time of continuing uncertainty and sacrifice.

If you or your student has questions, please contact Housing & Residence Life at housing@virginia.edu.

Sincerely,

Patricia M. Lampkin

Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

April 17: President Provides Updates for Final Exercises Options

To the Class of 2020,

I write today with an update on a topic many of you have been wondering about: Final Exercises.

I know how much all of you were looking forward to Final Exercises and how disappointed many of you are that the ceremonies had to be moved. Graduation isn’t just a chance to walk the Lawn and get your diploma. It’s a time to say goodbye to your friends; to thank your families for the sacrifices they’ve made and the support they’ve provided; to let your professors know how much you appreciate them; to have one more bagel, go on one more hike, and sing the Good Old Song one more time. It’s an incredibly special moment—and one every graduate of the University should have a chance to experience.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard from many of you hoping that we would be able to hold Final Exercises on a different date. That’s been our hope, too, which is why we convened a committee made up of undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff to look at different options for Final Exercises. Following the committee’s recommendation, we are planning the following:

We will hold a virtual ceremony on the original date of Final Exercises, May 16, 2020, to confer degrees. This will serve as the official end of the academic year and allow all those who earned their degrees to graduate on time. We are planning something memorable to mark the occasion, and will have more details to share soon. We will hold Final Exercises on the Lawn, either this fall or next spring. We are holding the weekend of October 9-11, 2020, which coincides with fall reading days. Because we do not yet know whether it will be safe to have a large gathering in October, we are also holding May 28-30, 2021 as a backup, which is the weekend after the Class of 2021 will walk the Lawn. Given the continued uncertainty about COVID-19, we recommend against making travel plans for October until we know more; we simply wanted you to know now the dates we are holding on our calendars so that you can hold them on yours. We will follow up with more definite information in June. Schools and departments are planning to hold their own in-person ceremonies as well, although details—including possible dates—are still being worked out. As more details become available, we will post them on the Class of 2020 Final Exercises website.

This year’s Final Exercises will be different in some respects from the ones we had originally planned, and had been looking forward to. But we will do everything we can to make these ceremonies a fitting end to your time at UVA. While every class at UVA is special, yours is truly unique—and these Final Exercises will be, too. I expect it will be one of the most joyful occasions the Lawn has ever seen, and a moment all of us will remember forever. I look forward to seeing you there.

Jim Ryan

President

April 15: Message to Students Outlining Grading Options

Dear Undergraduate Students,

As you know, on March 18, 2020, Provost Liz Magill approved a new default grading option for all undergraduate classes this spring (CR/NC). In response to input from faculty and students, she recently added a third grade to the default grading option. Here is an explanation of each grade:

• Credit (CR): awarded if you meet the class’s requirements for credit (C or higher). For Spring 2020 only, CR will meet all undergraduate degree requirements, including prerequisites, general education, major, minor, etc. CR will not affect your GPA.

• General Credit (GC): awarded if you receive a passing grade below a C. GC will earn the credit hours associated with the course and will fill undergraduate requirements that can be met by a passing grade lower than C. GC will not affect your GPA.

• No Credit (NC): Awarded if you receive a grade of F. This grade will not earn credit or meet any requirements. NC will not affect your GPA.

On Friday, April 24, 2020, at 8 a.m. EDT, all of your classes will be converted to the default grading option of Cred/GenCred/NoCred Spring 2020. At that time, you may, if you wish, change any (or all) of your classes back to the standard grading option (A through F).

You will have until Tuesday, April 28, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. EDT to make this decision and you may change your mind for any class up until the deadline. You will not be able to change the grading option for any class after 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2020.

All undergraduate transcripts for the Spring 2020 term will note that CR/GC/NC grading was the default grading option for UVA undergraduate classes in response to the global pandemic.

Fall 2020 Enrollment Update

To implement the Spring 2020 default grading option and give you the opportunity to select which option you prefer for each class, we must temporarily stop enrollment for Fall 2020 classes. Fall 2020 enrollment will be temporarily suspended at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2020, and will resume at 8 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.

Spring 2020 Grading Options

To summarize, beginning at 8 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 24, 2020, you will have two options for each of the classes you are taking this semester. Each option is explained below and in this infographic.

Option 1

Take no action. All of your classes will use the default grading scheme of Credit/General Credit/No Credit (CR/GC/NC). Your grades will not impact your GPA.

Option 2

Take action before 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. For any or all of your classes, select the standard grading option of Graded (A+ through F). This grading scheme will impact your GPA.

To make changes to the grading option for any class, follow these steps.

Deadline for Changes: You may change grading options as many times as you’d like, but final changes must be in place by 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 28, 2020, the last day of classes. You will not be able to change your grading option after the deadline passes.

In making your decision about whether to change your grading options, remember that some graduate and professional schools are updating their policies as the pandemic progresses. If you hope to apply to graduate or professional school, please consult the websites of your preferred schools for information about their policies on accepting CR/NC due to the global pandemic.

If you have questions or concerns about your grading options for this term and their implications for degree completion, please contact your school of enrollment.

We know this has been a challenging semester for you and your families. We hope you are safe and well. Those of us in the Office of the University Registrar and in your schools are here if you need us. You may reach me at ureg@virginia.edu if you have questions or concerns.

Kind regards,

Laura F. Hawthorne

Associate Vice Provost and University Registrar

April 14: Update From UVA Leaders to Employees on Financial Impact of COVID-19

Dear Colleagues:

First and foremost, our deepest thanks to all of you for your extraordinary efforts during this extraordinary time. Because of your dedication, hard work, and creativity, we have managed to continue the core mission of this University—advancing knowledge and the common good through excellent teaching, research, and clinical care. We have also served our community and the Commonwealth, largely through the heroic work of those in the health system, but also through innovative and timely research, partnerships with the City and County, and volunteer efforts made by so many of you. Despite the pressures and significant disruptions to your professional and home lives, you have all performed exceptional work in supporting our patients, our students, each other, and the Charlottesville community.

If there were ever a time to be both great and good, this is surely it, and that is precisely what you have been as a community. As difficult as this period has been, it has also been a time filled with inspiring acts of generosity, ingenuity, and kindness.

All that said, the challenges presented by this crisis are difficult to exaggerate. The pandemic has not simply made fulfilling our core mission more difficult. It also has had—and continues to have—serious financial consequences for the University.

We are writing today to describe those consequences, the principles that will guide our responses, and the immediate steps we are taking to meet these challenges.

The University has already suffered major financial losses in the academic division and in the health system. As this pandemic continues, we will see additional revenue shortfalls across nearly all categories of funding, including tuition, state funding, clinical care, research grants, endowment returns, and philanthropy. While the full costs are not yet known, they are large and will grow over the next few months, especially in the health system. At the same time, the economy and financial markets remain volatile, and there is a good chance of a sustained economic downturn.

For all of those reasons, we are going to have to tighten our belts, just like other organizations and universities across the country. We also have to be prepared to absorb additional disruptions to our operations and finances, especially if we cannot resume normal operations next fall. Although we hope to restart normally in the fall, it is still too early to know if that will be possible.

As always, but especially now, we must be exceptionally good stewards of our resources so that we can continue to carry out our core mission, and in so doing be of service to the Commonwealth and beyond. At the same time, we must never forget that the people at UVA—our faculty, staff, and students—remain our greatest asset, and will be the key to our ability to weather this crisis and recover with strength. With that in mind, three principles will guide our actions and decisions during this challenging period, and we ask that leaders across the University follow them as well:

1. Maintain excellence in our core mission.

Above all else, we must strive to maintain excellence in our teaching, research, and clinical care. This requires focusing on the essential and deferring non-essential programs or projects.



2. Support the most vulnerable.

We must attend most immediately to those with COVID-19. Beyond caring for our patients, we will strive to share the burdens of any cost-cutting measures across our community. We will also remain committed to access and affordability for our students and to meeting 100% of their financial need.



3. Be creative.

We must look for new and creative ways to work together efficiently and effectively, to conserve our resources, and to generate new revenue. A silver lining of this crisis is that it has shown how nimble and innovative we can be when needed. We must continue in the same spirit.



*****

With these principles in mind, and as described more fully in a memo going to University leaders, today we are announcing the following policies:

Hiring Freeze: There will be a pause in University-wide hiring for open faculty, staff, and health system team member positions, unless an exception is approved by executive leadership.

Salary Freeze: There will be no merit increases for the next fiscal year.

Limiting Capital Projects: The University will proceed only with capital projects that are already in design or construction and that are fully funded.

Expense Reduction: All schools and units will cut or eliminate all non-essential expenses.

Senior Leadership Pay Cuts: The executive leadership team will take a 10% salary reduction.

We will continue to review our finances and operations over the coming weeks and months, and we will communicate with you about any additional steps we must take, as well as the rationale for those decisions. We expect the steps we have outlined here to help us mitigate the immediate impact of the pandemic and to carry us through until we have made decisions about the fall. Once those decisions are made, we will necessarily reassess our situation. Consistent with our guiding principles, we remain committed to avoiding furloughs or layoffs for as long as possible and to utilizing them only if absolutely necessary. That said, the health system may have no choice but to turn to these steps sooner rather than later given the serious financial situation they are facing because of the significant disruption to clinical care.

These are not decisions we make lightly, as we know they will be disruptive and difficult. But we are in a period of shared sacrifice, with more challenges ahead. We will meet these challenges by focusing on our core mission, by doing our best to support one another, and by continuing to look for creative solutions.

We will get through this, together. This is an exceptional community, and in exceptional communities, extraordinary challenges bring forth extraordinary responses. We have already seen many, and we know we will see even more in the days to come.

Thank you again for all that you are doing. It is an honor to serve alongside all of you.

Best,

Jim Ryan

President

Liz Magill

Provost

K. Craig Kent

EVP for Health Affairs

J.J. Davis

EVP and Chief Operating Officer

April 14: Financial Impact Memo to Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts and Other Leaders

Dear Colleagues:

As described in the letter from President Ryan and the three of us earlier today, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the University’s teaching, research, and clinical care activities, as well as deeply disruptive effects on the economy as a whole. In response to the dramatic changes in the University’s fiscal outlook, we must begin to address the short- and long-term financial effects on the University’s mission-critical operations.

Accordingly, we write to announce immediate actions to maintain excellence in our core mission, uphold our commitment to students, patients, faculty, staff, and team members, and advance our highest priorities – all while safeguarding the long-term health of the institution. Given the high degree of uncertainty about the future course of the pandemic and its further effect on the University, we must have a variety of options on the table. As a first step, and effective immediately:

There will be an immediate pause in hiring for faculty, staff, and team member positions, with only critical searches moving forward, subject to the approval of the relevant Executive Vice President. Deans should consult with the Provost (and, for the schools of medicine and nursing, also with the EVP of Health Affairs) as soon as possible to review the status of faculty recruitment plans authorized for this year and jointly decide which positions should continue as exceptions to the general hiring freeze and which should be deferred. Details will be forthcoming regarding the process for considering exceptions for staff and team member positions.

Immediately and through the end of fiscal year 2021, compensation (regardless of funding source) will be frozen at current levels, with only contractually required increases allowed and those related to promotion or internal equity, which must be approved by the relevant Executive Vice President(s).

Across the University and in the health system, employees’ ability to cash out Paid Time Off (PTO) will be suspended, effective immediately and until further notice. We recognize, however, that under current circumstances some staff and team members will have difficulty taking planned leave. Accordingly, we will increase the cap on carrying forward unused PTO hours from 2020 into 2021. Further details will be forthcoming from University HR about this policy.

To preserve maximum flexibility and conserve resources, we expect all schools, the health system, and all units to reduce all non-essential current expenses and use the most restricted funds first. No new programs should be initiated unless specifically evaluated and approved by the relevant Executive Vice President.

Within the next few weeks, schools, departments, units, and the health system will receive further direction to re-state previously submitted FY21 budget plans. Revised planning parameters will reflect adjusted expense assumptions for compensation and central services costs, as well as projected revenue declines including, but not limited to, tuition and state appropriations, clinical care, Provost Support Fund, sales and services, philanthropy, and endowment returns. Schools will also need to evaluate the impact on sponsored research, which will vary by sponsor and grant.

The University will proceed only with capital projects that are already in design or construction and that are fully funded. In light of the impact of COVID-19, reevaluation and reestablishment of funding sources is necessary. The relevant Executive Vice President(s) will reach out to schools, the health system, and units to re-evaluate all plans in light of the current situation before moving forward. New feasibility or design studies will be deferred.

The health system team will be meeting with various stakeholders over the coming days to develop a specific plan for the health system.

These are initial steps to help the University begin to address the unprecedented fiscal issues facing us. Under the University Financial Model used in the Academic Division, we will also look to the Deans and other leaders to take the steps necessary to safeguard their units’ core mission, ensure their financial health, and seek out opportunities for reallocation and efficiencies that strengthen their strategic focus.

The global economic and public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to have the most disruptive consequences of any downturn any of us has experienced in our lifetimes, reshaping how the University undertakes its missions of teaching, research, service, and patient care. As further implications come into focus, we may need to take additional steps.

The challenges ahead are daunting, but we are confident that if we act quickly and responsibly, and in accordance with our principles and strategic aspirations, our University – and the shared mission that gives us our collective purpose – will flourish.

April 9: Message to Faculty From Provost Liz Magill

Dear Members of the Faculty at UVA,

Let me first express my hope that you and yours are safe and healthy during this difficult period, and, second, my appreciation for the exceptional work that you, along with all of our staff, are doing to continue our core missions as we grapple with this public health emergency.

Throughout this challenging time, our actions have been guided by the desire to protect the health of our community (students, faculty, staff and Charlottesville neighbors), to help “flatten the curve,” and to ensure the continuity of our teaching, research and clinical care. Most recently, we adjusted our grading policy for this term (there will be an update sent to deans on the mechanics of this shortly), shifted our research enterprise to key functions only, and moved Summer Sessions 1 and 2 online.

Today, I write to share that, given the extraordinary challenges we are facing with the COVID-19 emergency and the resulting disruption of regular teaching, research, clinical practice and service, the University is providing an across-the-board, one-year extension to the tenure clock for tenure-track faculty who meet certain eligibility criteria (details are here). Faculty may opt out of this automatic extension. We have adopted this provision for extension of the tenure clock pursuant to the Provost’s Promotion and Tenure Policy (PROV-017).

The reason for this action is straightforward. Our faculty have had to reinvent their courses to be taught online and struggled to preserve research programs, with labs closed, conferences canceled and research assistants gone. Our UVA Health faculty have found themselves at the front line of this emergency as they are working to provide clinical care. The consequences of this pandemic are continuing to unfold and will be experienced differently across the University. This is a challenge for all faculty and staff, but particularly for our tenure-track faculty in their probationary period. Such tenure-seeking faculty have an ambitious set of expectations that they must meet within a short period, including demonstrated excellence in teaching, research/scholarship, clinical responsibilities; the development of a national reputation; and performance of University and professional service. While individual extensions of the tenure clock are permitted under University policy, given the current circumstances, we are extending the tenure clock across the board to support the success of our tenure-track faculty by compensating for the time lost due to the current crisis.

Other faculty members who are experiencing disruption of their efforts to prepare for promotion or renewal due to the present public health emergency are encouraged to discuss this with their supervisor or dean. Members of our Academic General Faculty may have questions about their efforts to prepare for promotion or renewal, and those questions should be addressed to their school dean or associate dean. The schools retain flexibility to respond to such requests with provost approval, as described in our University-wide policy, linked here.

Eligibility criteria and implementation details of the tenure clock extension are available, as noted above, here. We recognize that faculty may have questions regarding their individual cases. If so, please reach out to your department chair or dean, or you may write to vpfa@virginia.edu and we will follow up with you.

I am grateful to each of you for the work you are doing in support of the University of Virginia. It is an honor and privilege to work with you.

Sincerely,

Liz Magill

Provost, University of Virginia

April 7: Letter to Parents and Guardians

Dear Parents and Guardians:

These are hard times for everyone. As we experience a global pandemic that is expected to worsen in coming days in our area of the country, the University is joining with entities at the local, regional and state level to share resources that may be needed for the health and well-being of our fellow citizens.

You and your student already are making personal sacrifices that none of us fully envisioned even a month ago. I’m writing today to thank you for all you are doing and to share more information about plans that will have an impact on a small contingent of students and their families. Although this does not affect all of you, I believe it’s important for all of our students and families to understand what – and why – certain decisions have been made in recent days.

As a state institution with a public trust and mission, we have a duty to share our resources in times of crisis. Our facilities are owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. It’s our good fortune that the UVA Hospital, a nationally renowned, level one trauma center, is part of our extended Grounds. We offer major resources that can help those suffering from COVID-19 and other illnesses, as well as assist the many doctors, nurses and staff members who are caring for them. Our resources are part of the bigger picture that emergency planners are reviewing to determine a comprehensive, joint response to aid the Central Virginia area.

At the same time these plans are evolving, we must adhere to medical guidance and concerns for the safety and health of you, your families, our staff members and people in Charlottesville. Many of you have understandably wanted to return to the Grounds to pick up your students’ belongings if they lived in a residence hall. That simply is not possible given all the current concerns about the spread of COVID-19. We will be determining a date and process for you to return in the future, but only when consistent with public health and safety.

The residence halls currently are accessible only to those students who received permission to remain on Grounds. We are in contact with the some 250 undergraduate students who remain so they are aware of how to access services if they need help.

Emergency Use of Bond, Bice, Shea, French and Spanish Houses. As part of the overall efforts addressing the COVID-19 crisis, the University recently was asked to provide housing in residence halls near the hospital. The buildings include Bice, Bond, Shea, and the French and Spanish houses. This weekend, eight students who had remained in those five buildings were relocated to vacant rooms in Lambeth and Copeley, located on the opposite side of Grounds.

As part of this process to answer the call of projected emergency needs, we now must carefully pack up and store all the possessions of students who had lived in those five buildings. The residents of those buildings received an email with details on Sunday and are being asked to complete a questionnaire to help direct the vendor we have retained for packing, moving and storage. A second email further clarifying the process was distributed yesterday. Students who received the questionnaire need to complete it by tomorrow, April 8, so the vendor can handle students’ possessions as carefully as possible and in accordance with their preferences.

The University is covering the full cost of packing and storing items from these five buildings. Students only need to pay if they want to go to the storage warehouse and pick up their belongings before some point in the future when conditions are safer and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has lifted the stay-home order issued last week. Once a timeframe is set, the vendor will deliver everyone’s packed belongings to a central area of the Grounds where students and parents can pick them up. A range of dates and times for pick-up will be available.

Governor Northam’s Executive Order. If you live in Virginia, then you know Gov. Northam issued an Executive Order last week directing Virginians to stay at home until June 10. This order, and previous guidance from the governor and other officials, has guided our decisions since mid-March about students returning to Grounds.

The majority of our students are no longer in Charlottesville. A significant number, however, remain in off-Grounds apartments or houses. By and large, they are following social distancing guidelines and not gathering in groups larger than 10. I have seen exceptions, however, most notably on the UVA Lawn. Enjoying the beautiful spring weather is certainly not a problem, but if you think your student needs a reminder about not gathering in groups larger than 10, please help us out. It’s for their own safety and that of others. The asymptomatic spread of the novel coronavirus poses major concerns.

Withdrawal Deadline Extended. For students only in the College of Arts & Sciences, the date to withdraw from the spring term has been changed to May 8 (it had previously been April 14). All College students now have until May 8 to withdraw from the spring 2020 term and return in fall 2020 (or summer). Students in the College have received a notification about this.

Message from Dean Groves. All students received a message yesterday from University Dean of Students Allen Groves. He reminded students of the importance of social distancing and covered several other important topics, including the possibility of unemployment benefits for students who had part-time jobs and are now having difficulty paying rent or other major expenses. He also listed the many services available remotely, including the services of Student Health and Counseling & Psychological Services. I encourage you to read his message and ensure your student reads it.

The University is committed to sharing updates with you as information is available, but we remain in a fluid situation marked by numerous uncertainties. Thank you for all you are doing to support your student as they finish this semester remotely. I hope you and your families are weathering this crisis as well as possible.

Sincerely,

Patricia M. Lampkin

Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

April 6: Ryan Announces Emergency Fund to Assist Contract Workers, UVA Employees

The following email was distributed to members of the University community on Monday:

To the University community:

I am writing to let you know about efforts we are making to support workers furloughed by our contractors and about a contribution to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

A core aspiration of our strategic plan is to be a university that is both great and good. Toward that end, we have committed to doing our best to be a good neighbor and to live our values. That means, among other things, doing what we can to support our most vulnerable community members.

We have kept our employees on our payroll, and we will continue to do so for as long as we can. Some of our contractors, including Aramark, have furloughed their employees. More may do so in the future. These workers are entitled to state and federal unemployment benefits, as well as some benefits being offered directly by their employers.

It has become clear that these benefits are not flowing as quickly as any of us would like, and that our contract workers need immediate assistance. It is also clear that there may be a gap between the relief available from unemployment benefits and meeting the necessities of life. Our own employees may also be facing unexpected costs due to the crisis we are all facing.

For these reasons, we are devoting $2 million to create an emergency assistance fund for UVA contract workers and employees. We cannot provide a salary or wages to those who have been furloughed, because doing so would make them ineligible for the state and federal benefits that exist for those who are unemployed. But we can provide funding to help meet an array of needs related to the crisis. Our primary focus will be to help those who have been furloughed, but this fund will also be available for those still employed and facing unexpected costs.

We will also be providing assistance to furloughed contract workers who need help in applying for state and federal unemployment benefits, and we expect this fund to be a helpful bridge to those who are awaiting benefits. We will keep this fund operational until June 1, and we will reassess at that point.

We will have more details to share by mid-week, including a timeline and process for accessing the funds. A number of you have contacted me about helping out your colleagues, and I’m grateful for your interest and compassion. To facilitate that help, we are setting up a process for employees to donate directly to this fund.

We are also committed to being a good neighbor to the Charlottesville region. For that reason, we are also contributing $1 million to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation to support their efforts to stabilize households during this pandemic. The Foundation has already raised over $2.3 million to support these efforts, and they are doing great work and deserve our support. For anyone who needs immediate assistance, please call their Community Resource Helpline at 434-234-4490.

We will have more to say later this week about additional steps we are going to take to support our community, but I did not want to wait to get this information out. We face challenges ahead. We will only get through them by working together and doing what we can to support each other. Thanks for all of your efforts in that regard.

Jim Ryan

President

April 5: Update from the Dean of Students

Dear Undergraduate, Graduate and Professional School Students:

I’m writing today to offer updates on a few subjects, and also to check in on you. As April begins, it’s still somewhat difficult to fully grasp all that has occurred over the past few weeks. I imagine you are feeling a range of emotions. I hope as you deal with this upheaval in your life you will take some time for self-care and reflection. If you are spending major portions of your day in front of a computer instead of in a classroom or research lab or library with the friends, advisors, colleagues, and the routines you had come to enjoy, social isolation can be a real problem. Feelings of distance, loneliness, and even depression can result. Many of us feel a bit of “cabin fever” and that’s quite natural. Things as simple as taking a long walk and enjoying nature can help in dealing with the uncertainty everyone is feeling now.

I urge you to stay connected with your friends and whoever else lifts your spirits. Prioritize your health, including getting adequate sleep, moving your muscles, and eating nutritiously. If you would like to speak with a counselor at any point, we continue to offer services through CAPS and Student Health remotely. Please see the end of this message for resources and contact information.

If you are having difficulty with your courses, either because of the material, online delivery, or other issue, please reach out for help. If you are an undergraduate student, please call on your professor, teaching assistant, academic advisor, association dean (if in the College), or perhaps engage with a tutor or peer. Graduate and professional students should reach out to their professor, advisor, research director, department chair, or academic dean.

• Governor Northam’s Executive Order. The warm spring weather can be a soothing antidote to stress, but it carries a risk as well. It remains very important to practice social distancing and abide by local directives. While it will be tempting to gather outside in groups, it is essential that you follow orders like those issued by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to maintain social distancing and only go out for essential needs. The Governor’s most recent Executive Order directs Virginians to stay at home through June 10. This does not preclude going out for a walk, for example, but if you go with a few friends, you should be mindful of keeping a distance of at least six feet between you. No groups of 10 or more can gather outside or elsewhere in Virginia, on public or private property. Many other states have similar restrictions aimed at “flattening the curve” and avoiding larger scale COVID-19 infections that may overwhelm our health care system.

• Doing Our Part. We know the COVID-19 crisis is worsening in most of the country, including in Virginia. University leaders are responding by turning significant attention to our health system and standing ready to support the consolidated, joint efforts of emergency teams in the Charlottesville community and larger central Virginia area. As a state institution with a public trust and mission, it is our duty to respond to requests for use of our facilities and resources at the local, regional, state, and national levels.

• Emergency Use of Residence Halls. Within the past few days, we have responded to requests from emergency planners to make residence hall space available near the UVA Hospital. The 15 undergraduate students who still resided in Bond, Bice, Shea, and the French and Spanish language houses have been relocated this weekend, with help from the teams in Housing & Residence Life and Facilities Management, to vacant rooms in Lambeth and Copeley. Additionally, students who had been living in Bond, Bice, Shea, and the French and Spanish language houses – but had left Charlottesville previously – have been notified that the University will be carefully packing and storing their belongings at no cost to students, so the buildings can be used to support needs arising from this crisis. (Students can also choose to have their belongings shipped to them at their expense.)

This crisis bears similarities to war efforts of the past when citizens had to make sacrifices and pull together for the greater good. I regret some decisions have come very quickly with little advance communication, but the situation is exceptionally fluid right now and the University is part of larger efforts with new priorities emerging daily. Whenever possible, we are committed to communicating with you in advance and as fully as possible. We will always endeavor not simply to tell you what action is being taken, but also why.

• Retrieving Belongings from the Residence Halls. Given medical guidance and concerns for the health of you, your families, and people in Charlottesville, it will not be possible for students who were living in residence halls to come back to the Grounds at this time to retrieve personal possessions from on-Grounds residences. We will be determining a date and process for you to return in the future, and only when consistent with public health and safety. The residence halls currently are accessible only to those students who received permission to remain on Grounds.

• Support for International Students. Of special note is that many of the undergraduate and graduate students remaining on Grounds and in our Charlottesville community are international students. We recognize the special challenges they face being far from home. We communicated last week with all students remaining on Grounds and emphasized how they can access needed services. For our international students in particular, we want to underscore our condemnation of, and resolve to combat, any acts of bias or xenophobia against them. If you have been the target of such an act, please report it through the University’s Just Report It system. Of course, if you believe you are ever in immediate danger, you should always call 911.

• Financial Hardships. Without question, the coronavirus crisis is taking an economic toll on many, including our students, faculty and staff, and their families. The University is examining how costs and losses are affecting our operations. This includes the recognition that some families who have been hit especially hard may need to update their financial information with Student Financial Services for purposes of calculating institutional aid and access to other resources.

Many students have expressed considerable concern about losing their wages from part-time jobs, affecting their ability to pay rent and other major expenses. Please note, the Student Legal Services office, which is staffed by attorney Lester Wilson and funded by the Student Activity Fee, may be a resource to assist you. More information is available on the Student Legal Services website.

New federal legislation may also grant part-time student workers eligibility for unemployment benefits through the Virginia Employment Commission. Students who had part-time jobs, but are currently unemployed, can apply now on the VEC website. Applicants will need to renew their claims weekly, preferably Mondays through Wednesdays. The VEC website states VEC is still awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor, so the timing of funding is uncertain. If you are a part-time student worker who lost your job in another state, you should apply using that state’s website to seek unemployment benefits.

We are grateful to our graduate students for the support they continue to provide to the University’s core missions of teaching and research. For those students who are serving as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs), the University’s policy on continuity of pay is noted on the Human Resources website. During the spring term, GTAs continue in their roles of working with faculty in teaching remotely for the remainder of the semester, while GRAs and research fellows continue to work with their faculty advisors and supervisors to engage in the activities of their research groups, including continuing research remotely to the extent possible. We know how disruptive this pandemic has been to the academic careers of our graduate students. The Provost and the Vice President for Research continue to work with the deans and faculty to find ways to ensure the success of our graduate students during this time of disruption in their education and research.

Emergency funding continues to be available for all students in need. As a reminder, three forms of funding are available:

• Final Exercises. Having walked the Lawn myself as a graduating student, I fully recognize the importance of walking the Lawn for our graduating students and their families. Last month, President Ryan asked Pam Higgins, Executive Director for Major Events in the President’s Office, and me to lead a working group of undergraduate and graduate students and representatives from the schools to recommend ways for a meaningful celebration still to occur on the Lawn. We hope to present recommendations soon to President Ryan and his senior leadership team. You should expect to hear directly from President Ryan on this topic in the coming weeks, as he is committed to seeing this through for you.

• Providing Support. Many of you have expressed interest in supporting the University Health System and our local community, and we have seen many gestures of generosity. If you would like to learn more about how you can support the care needs of the Health System, please visit their website.

With six weeks remaining in the semester, I hope to communicate several more times before everyone finishes the term. I personally want to stay connected with you, and I feel it is important for you to receive regular updates about important student topics and how the University is responding to the coronavirus crisis.

I wish the best to each of you and your families.

Sincerely,

Allen W. Groves

University Dean of Students

Student Affairs Services Available Remotely

Student Health & Wellness

Medical Services: 434-924-5362 during business hours (M-F, 8:00-4:30)

For urgent care after hours: 434-297-4261

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): 434-243-5150 available 24/7

Student Disability Access Center (SDAC): SDAC@virginia.edu

Office of Health Promotion (Wahoo Well, Nutrition, Recovery): 434-924-1509

General Needs and on-Grounds Housing

Office of the University Dean of Students: 434-924-7133 or odos@virginia.edu

Office of the Vice President & Chief Student Affairs Officer: vpsa@virginia.edu

Housing & Residence Life: housing@virginia.edu

Urgent Student Needs

Dean-on-Call: 434-924-7133 during the day; 434-924-7166 after hours

March 30: Provost Address Governor’s Executive Order, Summer Session

To the University community,



I had planned to write to you today just about our summer programs, and information about that is below. But I realize many of you may be wondering about Governor Northam’s Executive Order, which was released this afternoon. So before I get to the summer programs, let me say a few words about the Governor’s Executive Order.



The order requires all Virginia residents to remain at home, unless they are traveling to and from work or seeking essential services like medical care, food, or banking. Institutions of higher education, like UVA, “shall cease all in-person classes and instruction, and cancel all gatherings of more than ten individuals. For purposes of facilitating remote learning, performing critical research, or performing essential functions, institutions of higher education may continue to operate, provided that social distancing requirements are maintained.”



This order is consistent with the decisions we have made over the last few weeks and will not change the way we are currently operating. If more changes become necessary, we will let you know.



As far as this summer is concerned, in keeping with our decisions about this semester, we have decided to cancel all in-person summer programs through June 30th, 2020. “Summer programs” include classes, conferences, camps, and other events that are scheduled to occur on Grounds through June 30th.



This means that classes offered during Summer Session 1 and 2 will move online. You can find more information about Summer Session at https://summer.virginia.edu/. By June 1st, we will make a decision about in-person summer programs occurring after July 1st.



As always, please visit https://www.virginia.edu/coronavirus for the most up-to-date information on our response to COVID-19 and answers to frequently asked questions. I hope that you and yours are safe and healthy.



Sincerely,



Liz Magill

Provost

March 23: Provost Clarifies the State of Research and Warns of Potential Shutdown

Dear UVA Faculty and those involved in the research enterprise:

Thank you for your patience as we work together to tackle this fast-moving and complex public health crisis. We understand this has been a difficult period, including for those engaged in the important task of research, whether they do their work in a lab or in an office or in the field. As you know, last week, the University announced extraordinary measures to “flatten the curve” even as we work to continue our missions of teaching, research, and clinical care. The following day, the University announced that these measures apply to the research enterprise.

This message follows up on this March 20 communication from our Vice President for Research, Ram Ramasubramanian. I write to: i) provide two reminders; ii) to clarify the University’s approach to the engagement of graduate students in research during this period; and iii) to emphasize that all engaged in the research enterprise should be preparing for the possibility of a shutdown of ongoing research and resorting only to the maintenance of key laboratory assets.

First, two reminders:

I want to reaffirm the University position on research: As announced last week, the research enterprise should be shifting to key functions only – and that task should be complete by tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24, close of business. Our research enterprise is highly heterogenous, so what constitutes a “key” task will vary across the institution, but the already-announced guiding principles are linked here . In addition, please consult your school and research dean for advice that is appropriate to the context of the research efforts in your school.

– and that task should be complete by tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24, close of business. Our research enterprise is highly heterogenous, so what constitutes a “key” task will vary across the institution, but the already-announced guiding principles are linked . In addition, please consult your school and research dean for advice that is appropriate to the context of the research efforts in your school. In keeping with the University-wide approach to “flattening the curve”: All employees, including those engaged in the research enterprise, who can work from home, must work from home and their supervisor (here, PI) must require that they do so. Like all managers, a PI can “designate” a category of employees who must report in person to perform key functions. In keeping with efforts to “flatten the curve,” this category must be as small as possible to perform those tasks and the PI must assure that the safest practices are followed.

Second, regarding the role of graduate students in the days ahead:

As a matter of principle, the University position is that graduate students are – first and foremost – students . We understand that in many research programs – conducted in a lab, from an office, or in the field – graduate students are essential to the research enterprise, and that work is part of graduate students’ own aspirations for their future.

. We understand that in many research programs – conducted in a lab, from an office, or in the field – graduate students are essential to the research enterprise, and that work is part of graduate students’ own aspirations for their future. Given their status as students, the rule is this: a faculty member is not permitted to “designate” a graduate student, which would mean that the graduate student must report in person to perform key tasks. This rule is subject to narrow exceptions (decided through a process described below) if the PI/Research Leader and graduate student jointly request an exception.

Exceptions : I will, after consulting with others (the relevant school dean, the VPR, and the EVPHA) determine whether an exception to this rule will be granted. Petitions to permit a graduate student to continue in-person work should be submitted by the PI and as the form indicates with the consent of the graduate student to the Provost’s Office by using this form.

Third, it is critical that all PIs/Research Leaders plan for a shutdown of ongoing research. We do not know if or when that might occur; as has happened in some other states, it is possible that the decision will be required by a government order over which we have little control. Given this, it is crucial that researchers have a plan to preserve the vital material that is essential for research (for example, animals, cells, continuously run instruments and machines, special materials, and reagents). This task of preservation and planning will assure that, if we must pause our ongoing research, we will be positioned to return to this important endeavor whenever the pause is over. Believe me, all of us wish we could predict if and when we might have to shut down ongoing research; but we do not yet know. I assure you that we will continue to keep the UVA research community up to date in the days ahead.

Thank you for your patience and generosity of spirit during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Liz Magill, Provost

March 19: New Cases of COVID-19 Includes UVA Student

The following message was delivered to the University community on March 19:

Dear University community:

Earlier today the Virginia Department of Health confirmed three new cases of COVID-19 in the Charlottesville area.

One of those cases is a UVA student who lives off Grounds in Albemarle County. The student, who is believed to have contracted the virus during recent international travel, is in isolation and receiving care following protocols from the Virginia Department of Health. We wish this student a speedy recovery during this difficult time.

The Virginia Department of Health is leading the effort, with the assistance of University officials, to identify people who were in contact with this individual, reaching out to those individuals and arranging for their self-isolation, if necessary.

The health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is our highest priority. We realize a case of COVID-19 within our student body creates a heightened sense of anxiety and concern. The University coronavirus page offers a number of resources to help community members stay healthy and to cope with the strain this period is placing on all of us.

As a reminder, as we work together to mitigate the spread of this disease, it is important that you continue to practice healthy habits:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Avoid sharing anything that has come in contact with saliva, whether in your living or social environments.

Get adequate sleep and eat well-balanced meals to ensure a healthy immune system.

Additional information is available from the CDC.

If you have questions, please respond to this email at covidinformation@virginia.edu or call 877-685-4836 (domestic) or 1-202-800-2408 (international).

We have posted notification of this recent case on the UVA Coronavirus website. As a result of the expected spread of the coronavirus and the development of additional testing capacity, there will likely be additional cases in the coming days. We will not be emailing about each of them, but our default will be to post notifications of new cases to the coronavirus website and to email about new cases sparingly.

Thank you all for your continued support and compassion during this challenging time.

Christopher P. Holstege, M.D.

Department of Student Health & Wellness

Patricia M. Lampkin

Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer

March 18: Provost Outlines Undergraduate Grading Policy for Online Courses

Dear UVA faculty, students, and staff:

We are facing extraordinary challenges as a result of COVID-19. As the letter President Ryan and I shared yesterday made clear, this has required rapid and consequential decision making. In seeking to fulfill our academic mission, our guiding principles are clear: We will work to protect our University community and our neighbors, and we will do all we can to continue educating our students and pursuing our research. The effort to sustain our educational mission has required enormous effort and creativity by thousands of faculty and staff. As we launch tomorrow into our rapid transition from in-person to online instruction for the remainder of this semester, I am writing to provide direction on how we will handle grading for undergraduate students.

For this semester, for our undergraduate schools, credit/no credit (CR/NC) will be the default grading system for all classes where the work is not yet completed; students will also, however, have the option to receive a letter grade. Students must decide whether to receive a letter grade by the last day of spring semester classes, Tuesday, April 28th. We will be in touch about the process for making that choice as soon as possible.

Several other details are important:

Courses taken for CR/NC during Spring 2020 will count toward curricular, major, and graduation requirements. Such grades are not factored into a student’s GPA. Students who remain in the CR/NC option must complete the class with a grade of C or better to receive credit.

This policy applies only to undergraduate level courses. The deans of the graduate and professional programs are considering how they will approach this question, and they will soon announce their decisions to their schools.

UVA will include a designation on students’ transcripts to indicate that the CR/NC option was created in the midst of an extraordinary crisis and as part of the University’s effort to manage the transition to online instruction.

These are not ordinary times. Every day, I am struck anew by the enormity of the challenges and the enormity of the effort being brought to bear to meet those challenges. As we resume the semester with online courses tomorrow, I want to thank all of you for your ingenuity, understanding, and patience. I remain confident in our collective ability to navigate this difficult time.

Best,

Liz Magill, Provost

March 18: Provost Outlines Guidance for Maintaining Research Continuity

Dear Colleagues,

I write to provide an update on our approach to research, as promised in yesterday's University message. In consultation with President Ryan, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Craig Kent, and Vice President for Research Ram Ramasubramanian, the following principles are guiding our efforts on research. Research, like education, is central to the University's mission. Similar to our extraordinary effort to move classes online, we are taking dramatic steps to respond to this public health crisis while continuing our research mission.

In keeping with, and directly quoting, yesterday’s message: “All faculty and staff who can work remotely should be told to do so. We are mandating telecommuting for all faculty and staff except those who must report in person to carry out key functions for their units, schools, or UVA Health.” This directive applies to all University employees. Like managers across Grounds, Principal Investigators/Lead Researchers “have the authority to identify those who must report and those who can work remotely and should share direct guidance with their faculty and staff. We understand that some staff may need to consult with their managers to better understand how to conduct their work under the changed circumstances, and some may need to return to Grounds to collect items necessary to work remotely. We expect these plans to be fully implemented no later than the end of the day, Friday, March 20.”

We all remain grateful for your patience and partnership as we face these unprecedented times. In addition to the University’s coronavirus website, please visit the Vice President for Research website for specific resources and detailed guidance. Principal Investigators/Lead Researchers can find detailed research continuity guidelines here.

Liz Magill, Provost

March 17: COVID-19 Causes Sweeping Changes to University Operations

The following message was delivered to the University Community on March 17:

To the University community,

We write with some important updates across a range of issues. As you know, this is an unprecedented and very rapidly changing situation, and all of us are learning more every day. At this point, it seems imperative that we do our very best to slow the progression of this virus in order to “flatten the curve” of those infected and avoid overwhelming our health system, which would ultimately risk our patients, our community, and our Charlottesville neighbors. This requires taking some significant, additional steps at this point.

We realize and regret that these additional steps will cause more disappointment and call for more sacrifice, but we see no other way to do our part to help confront this public health crisis. We must also be mindful of the need of our students, their families, and our faculty and staff to plan, and we need to be mindful of protecting our faculty and staff, who make this place run. For all of those reasons, today we are announcing the following changes, including adjustments to classes, research, and events; guidance for employees; and modifications to services.

These changes will go into effect immediately wherever possible, though we recognize that some may take a bit of time to implement fully, as explained more below.

ADJUSTMENTS TO CLASSES, RESEARCH, AND EVENTS

Classes will remain online throughout the semester. It is exceedingly unlikely, based on all that we know at this point, that this virus will have abated by the end of April. In light of the need for faculty, staff, and students to make plans, we are making the decision now – rather than waiting until April 5 – to not hold any classes on Grounds this semester. For students who do not have the technology needed to complete their classes online, please visit our technology support fund page and read the instructions and guidelines completely. We are in active discussions about what changes we might make to our normal grading system this semester. We will be back in touch soon, once we have made a decision.

Final Exercises will not proceed as planned. In light of the evidence about the likely progression of the virus over the next couple of months, and when it will peak, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Final Exercises as currently planned. We did not make this decision lightly, as we know how disappointing it will be to graduating students and their families. That said, a team is already focused on developing creative alternatives to mark this important occasion, and we will communicate updates as we have them.

All events on Grounds are cancelled, no matter the size, until at least May 15. We had originally cancelled events over 100, but on Sunday the CDC suggested no groups larger than 50, and just recently the White House and the Governor of Virginia suggested gatherings of no more than 10 people. Rather than continue to chase the ever-shrinking size limitations, we want to be clear that all events should be cancelled this semester. These restrictions include events that are not University-sponsored, but are planned to occur on Grounds, including conferences, symposia, and social gatherings. This does not preclude small internal meetings, where social distancing should be the touchstone.

Research. Like our teaching mission, we are committed to continuing our research mission while making sure we take steps to keep members of our community safe. We will provide guidance on this by mid-day tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18.

GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYEES

All faculty and staff who can work remotely should be told to do so. We are mandating telecommuting for all faculty and staff except those who must report in person to carry out key functions for their units, schools or UVA Health. The latter includes, among others, faculty who need to come to their classrooms or offices to teach online, and UVA Health faculty and staff who need to care for patients and support patient services. The traditional categories of “designated” and “non-designated” are helpful but not entirely relevant here, given that those categories envisioned short delays due to weather problems. School leaders, unit supervisors, and managers have the authority to identify those who must report and those who can work remotely and should share direct guidance with their faculty and staff. We understand that some staff may need to consult with their managers to better understand how to conduct their work under the changed circumstances, and some may need to return to Grounds to collect items necessary to work remotely. We expect these plans to be fully implemented no later than the end of the day, Friday, March 20.

Employee Compensation and Benefits. We are committed to our employees. We are determined to ensure that the modifications to our operations caused by the coronavirus will not impact our existing commitments to compensate and continue existing benefits for UVA employees, whether part time or full time. We will, therefore, honor all existing commitments for the foreseeable future. The length of this crisis is difficult to predict at this point, as are the economic ramifications. There may come a point where we need to reassess in light of the length of time of the crisis or significantly changes circumstances, but our hope and plan is to weather this crisis together.

To be clear, those who must report for work will have to do so. Those who can work remotely will have to do so. Those who fall into neither category may be asked to perform other functions for their units or schools or to take on tasks elsewhere at the University. Whether or not these employees are able to be re-deployed, we will honor existing employment commitments for the foreseeable future.

Contract Employees. We have relationships with a wide range of contractors across the University, which present a variety of situations. We are in active conversations with these contractors and hope to be able to provide an update fairly soon.

Student Employees. This change in operations will have an impact on our student employees as well. Students who are teaching assistants or working on research will continue to be paid if they continue their work. Student employees who are able to complete their duties remotely can do so with the approval of their supervisor. Students should submit timesheets and be paid at their normal hourly wage. Student in the Federal Work Study program (FWS) will continue to be paid an average of their current wages bi-weekly through the end of the semester. Students on FWS who will continue to work remotely should submit time sheets and be paid at their normal hourly wage.

For the safety of students and the others with whom they may come into contact, non FWS student employees who cannot work remotely will not be eligible to continue working while the University’s operating schedule is modified due to COVID-19. We understand that this will cause 