Hi, everyone.
I hope you, your families, and your friends are safe and well, wherever you may be.
A lot has happened over the last several weeks, and I know you have been inundated with news
lately, including the news this week about our delayed start of in-person classes and
the opening of residence halls for undergraduates.
With all that's going on, I thought it might be useful to step back a bit and provide a
complete, but hopefully concise, picture of where we are, how we got here, and the road
ahead.
This is going to be a longer video, but I want to be open and transparent with everything
that’s happening, so thanks for tuning in, being patient, and listening.
Let me start at the beginning, with the simple question of why are we even trying to bring
students back at all?
The answer is straightforward.
Our mission is to educate students, conduct research, and provide medical care.
All of those are better done in person.
That is why, from the very beginning, we have sought to have students return as long as
we could do so in a reasonably safe manner.
We know that this carries some risks, but there are risks regardless of what decision
we make, including staying online all semester.
There are risks for some students for whom UVA is the safest place to be, or who may
face challenges learning online at home.
There are risks for our employees whose jobs depend on having students on Grounds.
We also know that roughly 2/3 of our students live off-Grounds and outside of University
housing, which means that thousands of students are going to be living in Charlottesville
whether classes are in person or not.
Our view has been that it will better for everyone if these students feel like they
are a part of the university community rather than outside of it.
For all of these reasons, we have believed all along that trying to have students back
and to hold some classes in person is right thing to do—but, again, only if we can do
so in a reasonably safe way.
So we have spent a great deal of time focused on health and safety measures, which you have
heard about but are worth reviewing.
To begin, with the guidance of our public health experts, we created a series of “gating”
criteria, which we must meet in order to open.
These criteria assess a range of factors, including whether we have sufficient PPE,
testing supplies, and a good plan for contact tracing; the progression of the virus; the
capacity of the hospital; and our ability to support the broader Charlottesville community,
including through testing in the community.
At the moment, we are concerned about the progression of the virus and the supply chain
for testing materials, which is why we are slowing down the return of undergraduate students,
as I’ll explain in more detail in a moment.
In addition to creating gating criteria, we have developed a plan for testing, contact
tracing, symptom attestation, isolation and quarantine.
All students who plan to be on Grounds in the fall will have to submit a negative COVID
test before they arrive, and students, faculty, and staff will have to complete a daily symptom
check through the HOOS Health Check app or by email.
Free testing will be available to faculty and staff who want it.
We will be testing the waste-water that comes from dorms as an early warning signal of an
outbreak.
If we see evidence of positive cases, we will test the entire dorm.
And we will continue to work with the Virginia Department of Health to offer community testing
in Charlottesville and the surrounding area.
We have been working to make classrooms and offices safe.
We have analyzed every classroom, conference room, and common space to determine their
capacity given physical distancing requirements, outfitted classrooms for in-person instruction
by adding plexiglass shields for faculty members, put up signs reminding everyone of the rules,
and developed enhanced cleaning protocols.
HVAC specialists have also checked heating and cooling systems across Grounds to make
sure they’re working well and providing proper ventilation.
Our public health experts are confident that, with these measures in place, our classrooms
and offices will be low-risk environments for our faculty, staff, and students.
We have secured ample supply of PPE and hand sanitizer, with masks for everyone and more
than 2,600 hand sanitizer stations installed across Grounds.
And we have established a set of expectations that we expect students, faculty, and staff
to follow, including wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, and limiting social gatherings.
These expectations are straightforward.
All students, faculty, staff, and contractors will be required to wear a mask when they
are inside, except when they are alone or with roommates and in their private spaces,
like dorm rooms, apartments, or individual offices.
Everyone will also be required to maintain six feet or more of physical distance from
others whenever possible and wear a mask outside when distancing isn’t possible.
Only small social gatherings will be allowed, with an upper limit of 15 people, and physical
distancing and mask protocols observed.
This means no large parties.
These requirements apply whether students live off Grounds or not, and they apply regardless
of whether students are on the Lawn or the downtown mall.
With all of this preparation and these plans in place, some may wonder why we are postponing
the start of in-person classes and the return to Grounds for undergraduate students, and
others may wonder why we don’t just decide now to remain online, with no students in
dorms, for the entire semester.
We are delaying, as I mentioned, because we are somewhat concerned about the prevalence
of the virus in the region and some recent volatility in the supply chain for testing
materials.
We are hopeful that both will improve over the coming weeks, and we are already seeing
some signs of progress that make us cautiously optimistic that we will be able to bring all
students back to Grounds.
One additional reason for optimism is that over the last month, we have ramped up our
research activity, launched some graduate and professional programs in-person, welcomed
student-athletes back for pre-season training, and resumed in-person work for staff helping
with fall preparations.
In total, we’ve brought thousands of people back to Grounds, including almost 2,000 students,
and things have gone very well.
I recognize that uncertainty is hard, especially given the uncertainty over the last several
months, but I also believe that returning all students to Grounds is an important enough
goal that we should not give up on it until we have to.
I’d like to conclude with some specific messages for our students, faculty and staff,
our Charlottesville neighbors, and our parents and guardians.
To our students, thank you for your understanding and your flexibility over these last few months and I'm sorry about the disruption and loss caused by this pandemic
I'm also grateful to the many students who have been working with us this summer to help prepare for the fall
including students who recently produced a video about the importance about following new safety guidelines on and off-Grounds.
As students, you have a choice about whether you'd like to follow the requirements
around masking, physical distancing, social gatherings and symptom attestation laid out
for you, and if you would, you will have to sign an agreement pledging that you will do
so.
I will be honest and say, as I’m sure you have heard, that there’s a good deal of
skepticism about whether you will follow these requirements.
Some believe you can’t.
Others believe you won’t.
I confess to have more faith in you than that.
I believe you can and will, because I trust you understand that these measures are not
just for your own protection, but for the protection of others.
It’s true that the symptoms of the virus are often less severe among young people,
though young adults are not immune from the virus or its effects.
But it is also undoubtedly true that any one of us could transmit a potentially devastating
virus to someone in our community who is more vulnerable—whether it’s a student who
is immunocompromised, a faculty or staff member, or a member of the broader Charlottesville
community.
I have confidence that you will do the right thing, even though midsummers gave many people
in Charlottesville cause for concern, and even though I know it will be hard at times.
Being part of the UVA community comes with enormous benefits, but it also comes with
obligations to each other and to our Charlottesville neighbors.
All of you were invited to join this community because we knew you would make it stronger,
as you have already.
This fall is another chance to make it even stronger not through anything heroic, but
through countless small, personal, responsible decisions that together will determine the
course of the semester.
That said, and to be very clear, if you don’t feel able to meet these expectations, or if
you think these requirements somehow don’t apply to you or that we might be kidding,
please stay home this semester, because we are not going to bend when it comes to compliance.
We can’t.
These rules will be enforced, and those who do not comply will face disciplinary actions,
which can range from a warning for minor violations to suspension or expulsion for serious or
persistent violations.
And if there is widespread non-compliance, we will have no choice but to change course,
shut down in-person classes and vacate the dorms.
I know that might seem severe, but we really do not have any other choice, given the seriousness
of what we face.
To our faculty and staff: thank you.
I know the most recent change in plans will require additional flexibility at a time when
you have already been remarkably flexible and understanding.
I know that those of you who are parents of young children have faced and will continue
to face child-care challenges.
I am enormously grateful for the hard work you have done and the sacrifices you have
made since March and through the summer to adapt to an ever-changing environment and
to ensure that we continue to deliver on our mission of teaching, research, and medical
care.
I also know that many of you are worried about your own health and safety with students back
on Grounds, which is why we have been doing all we can to make our classroom and office
environments as safe as they can be.
Still, we realize everyone’s circumstances are different, and we have asked deans and
managers to make every effort to grant requests for reasonable accommodations for faculty,
staff, and graduate teaching assistants who need them.
To our neighbors in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties: please know that we
are working as hard as we can to ensure that what we are doing is safe.
Please also know that, in addition to gating criteria that must be met for us to open fully,
we also have criteria that we will monitor daily to determine if we need to change course.
To be specific, we are tracking, and will continue tracking for the entire semester,
key criteria like viral-prevalence rates, isolation and quarantine capacity, compliance
with health and safety measures, and the availability of testing materials for the fall.
We are also tracking our hospital capacity which, to be clear, is fine right now.
If these criteria indicate that we should change course, we will.
Finally, to our parents and guardians: I know this is an uncertain time, and there are risks
involved.
As a parent of college-age students, these decisions hit close to home for me.
When I see our students, I see my own kids.
What I can promise is that we will not ask or permit our students to do anything I would
not ask or permit my own kids to do.
Some may still ask, is it worth it?
With all of the requirements and restrictions, is moving forward with students back on Grounds
worth it?
Even if successful, will this semester be all drudgery and no joy?
My own view is that it will certainly be different, but it will also be worthwhile.
There will be opportunities for discovery in classes and through research, and there
will be joy in getting together in small groups with friends, participating in new University
traditions, meeting new people, discovering new passions, and spending time in and around
Charlottesville during one of the most beautiful times of the year.
There is a good deal that remains unpredictable about this virus, which is why we must approach
it with humility.
But one thing we know for certain is that for this to work, we are going to have to
continue to work together.
We are going to have to remind ourselves that we did not ask for this pandemic, and that
this is a once-in-a century challenge, which requires, above all, that we be willing to
adapt.
We are going to have to learn to live with uncertainty for a while longer, and to remind
ourselves that this is genuinely hard, because it is.
We are going to have to be kind and generous with one another, and recognize that there
will be mistakes made.
We must trust that we are all trying our best and encourage those who need help or a gentle
reminder.
I cannot predict what this semester will bring, or what the world will look like in October
or November.
No one can.
But I can promise you that my colleagues and I will continue to do our very best to safeguard
our community and our Charlottesville neighbors.
Thank you.