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As we continue to prepare for the fall semester, the uptick in COVID-19 cases has been the start of many of our conversations. With the safety of our faculty, staff and students in mind, and with our mission to provide access to education, I want to let you know where I and your leadership team are on some important issues.
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First, let me say that many of you have reached out and expressed concerns, both with having in-person classes but also with not having them. This pandemic is rapidly changing, and the picture was different two weeks ago from what it was four weeks ago. I share many if not all of the same concerns of others across campus (including students and parents).
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What follows is not a response to all of the questions I have received, but hopefully this helps clarify a few things.
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Our planning efforts are for UAF to be in Phase C. Phase C means we can offer more in-person classes and open up more rooms for students in our residential units.
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This designation is important for three reasons. First, it allows us to have faculty who need to be on campus to teach or do research. Second, it gives us the option of in-person classes for those we deem necessary. And third, it allows us to have some students in residence halls. While we will have restrictions, it is an important option to keep open for many in the UAF demographic. Access to residence is for many access to education. Our commitment to respect, diversity, inclusion and caring includes providing access to education for all UAF students, not just those with reliable housing and a fast internet connection.
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After the pandemic began this spring, we operated with between 80 and 120 students in our residence halls. We currently have more than 600 students who have asked to live in the residence halls this fall. This can be accommodated with single-occupancy rooms, including keeping a spare residence hall for quarantine and a second for isolation if that were needed.
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Much was learned since March and much has gone into the planning to keep this many students safe during the pandemic. Students are weighing their options and asking to live on campus for the sake of their education. This would likely be the case even if all classes were online. Many students simply need residency.
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This fall, we expect to offer one third of our classes online, another third in person and the remainder as a mix. This mix of in-person and distance learning is changing as faculty evaluate options for their courses, which are then updated in the class schedule in UAOnline. To help keep our community healthy, social distancing and masks will be required for in-person classes.
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As of earlier this week, the mix of in-person and distance classes has a new and important impact on access to education for our international students. A new federal mandate established that the visas our international students hold are now dependent on the number of in-person classes they are enrolled in. If an insufficient number of classes are held in person for these students, their visas will be revoked and they will not be allowed in the United States. We are working with our international students on these issues.
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This is a matter of access, diversity and inclusion for UAF. By offering in-person classes we are allowing a segment of students to access education they wouldn’t otherwise have. While they could still participate online without a visa, many of our international students are our graduate student workforce. They are teaching assistants, research assistants and athletes. They are part of our fabric.
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What does the future hold?
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We do not know exactly what the pandemic will do, but the number of cases being reported is on the rise. Hospitalizations, however, remain low in Alaska. Some states are rolling back some or all of their reopening plans, others are not. What happens out of state or even off campus is not within our control. Also, what the governor may adjust or mandate moving forward remains to be seen. However, with many more of our classes online now than before and with many faculty working on getting courses in a hybrid or online form this summer, we are in a much different position to respond to unknowns than we were in March. During the shutdown, we learned a lot of useful lessons.
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We face many uncertainties, and there are risks posed by all of our choices. I’ve been asked if we are focusing on in-person options to bolster tuition revenue. The answer is no. This is about access to education and managing risk. It is about weighing the risks of different decisions and different approaches to provide access to labs for researchers, access to living facilities to students who need them, and access to education to as many students as possible. We must do so in a safe way. We will do the best that we can to navigate this pandemic and the twists and turns that await us, and we will do it together.
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