In short, could UVA actually make it all work?
Now, as the end of the semester nears, administrators, faculty, staff and students have some answers, and some useful lessons. After countless hours of work that required a shared sense of purpose and a flexible approach to solving problems, the University completed an unprecedented academic semester – and now must prepare to do it all again after the new year.
Overall, UVA did well in terms of case numbers, keeping active virus cases at a manageable level, with no more than 311 active cases among students, faculty and staff at one time. The number of active new cases also declined dramatically during the course of the semester as UVA’s testing programs and capacity increased. By the end of in-person classes in late November, UVA was regularly recording days with fewer than 10 positive cases among students and employees, with some days recording zero new cases.