University of Kentucky plans to reopen Lexington campus in August for fall semester
The University of Kentucky plans to be reopen its campus to in-person classes in August, the university’s president wrote in an email Friday.
President Eli Capilouto wrote that the university created four teams — comprised of UK staff, faculty and students — to develop a full and detailed plan by mid-June. According to the university’s official academic calendar, classes are slated to begin on Aug. 24.
UK HealthCare, researchers and facilities management are also working on their own restart plans. UK Athletics is creating on an “operations plan” with the rest of the SEC, Capilouto wrote.
UK Athletics spokesperson Guy Ramsay said the program is “working in conjunction with the SEC on a return to play. We will follow the SEC’s lead in that process, with announcements to follow at the appropriate time.”
The university has had online-only classes since March. UK’s summer courses were moved online in early April.
The university teams have already begun meeting, Capilouto wrote. Three of the teams will consider plans for a variety of potential scenarios.
Some of those potential scenarios include: returning to in-class learning assisted by online teaching, a possible hybrid approach consisting of a semester partly online and partly in-person, or a potential plan for delaying the start of the semester, if necessary.
The efforts will look at what the university would need to do should the coronavirus surge again locally.
“What if events make a fully online approach to instruction necessary again? How would that transition take place, and what do we do with a campus that is about to begin operations or is already open?,” Capilouto wrote.
A fourth team, called the START workgroup, will be headed by Robert DiPaola, the dean of the College of Medicine. It will consider how the university can increase screening, testing and contact tracing on-campus and possibly extend those services to the community.
The three teams analyzing possible scenarios — which will be tagged Team Blue, White and Wildcat — will be headed by Associate Dean Anna Bosch of the College of Arts and Sciences, Assistant Provost Katie Cardarelli of the Office of Faculty Advancement and Associate Provost Sue Roberts of the UK International Center.
Every team has been asked to complete their plans by the end of May, Capilouto wrote. The plans will be submitted to the president’s office and the 19 other coronavirus-related taskforces the university has already assembled.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 12:09 PM.