The university released its campus restart playbook last week and I hope you have all had a chance to review it. In President Capilouto’s words, the plan strongly affirms UK’s commitment to remain a residential campus experience this fall in a way that safeguards and promotes health, safety, and well-being of the entire campus community.

Even with this commitment, there will still be significant changes to the campus experience and academic calendar:

• In-person classes will begin on August 17 (some graduate health and professional programs operate on a different calendar; students should contact their programs for more information)
• The academic calendar will not include fall break and will include in-class instruction and campus operations on Labor Day
• In-person instruction will conclude at Thanksgiving break. Final exams will be administered remotely after Thanksgiving.
• Wearing of masks, social distancing, and other health measures will be implemented to safeguard health

Our physical therapy program resumed this month and is one of the first groups back on campus since its March closure. 50 students are attending one course using a hybrid online and face-to-face approach to instruction. Social distancing and screening procedures include:

• Instructors are teaching multiple classes to accommodate smaller class sizes and ensure proper social distancing
• Students must complete a symptom screening questionnaire before coming to class
• Students wash their hands immediately upon entering the building
• Doors to laboratories are propped open to minimize the number of objects people touch and each lab contains four hand-washing stations
• Face coverings are required at all times
• Everything a student or faculty member touches is disinfected immediately after use
• Classrooms are sanitized before each session and at the end of every day

I am hopeful we are off to a good start as CHS leadership, our faculty and staff, and myself continue to work efficiently to develop a safe and smart restart plan for our community. We will begin to release these details in the coming days and weeks as we determine the next steps for our college. Additionally, more information about our CHS Safe and Smart Start-Up workgroups will be forthcoming and we plan for and progress toward our opening on Aug. 17.

Thank you for trusting us as we reinvent normal operations and position our college to thrive amidst uncertain times.

Sincerely,

Scott Lephart
Dean of the UK College of Health Sciences