The following is a letter to campus from Southern Utah University President Scott L Wyatt.
As we plan to resume on-campus, in-person classes for the fall 2020 semester, we are working diligently to ensure a vibrant student experience and healthy campus environment.
Through a working group of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, we continue to evaluate the challenges presented by COVID-19. We have identified two fundamental and co-dependent goals for fall semester:
1) Deliver on our commitment of providing a robust educational experience for students, recognizing that a primary motivation in choosing SUU for both students and faculty is personalized, face-to-face instruction.
2) Support the health and safety of our campus community by taking steps to minimize the risk of contracting and/or spreading COVID-19.
This is a delicate balance as choosing only one of these goals would partially or fully exclude the other. In consultation with the local health department and considering the latest available information, the working group has identified guidelines aimed to strike the right balance between a lively campus environment and practical health practices.
With all of these efforts, SUU will follow health and safety guidance from state and federal agencies and expect students and employees to comply with that guidance. Additionally, the campus working group has developed the SUU Open Campus Fall 2020 Semester document with protocols and practices for students, faculty, and staff to safely return to campus.
Provost Jon Anderson and I will review these details and answer your questions during a virtual campus forum on Monday, June 29 at 1:30 pm. Use this link to join the forum. Regular updates will also be reflected at go.suu.edu/returntocampus.
I am so excited to welcome all of you and our students back to campus in a few months. It is up to everyone to take personal responsibility, stay informed and act based on best practices and wise judgment in an effort to maintain face-to-face instruction while protecting the health and safety of the university community.
This will be a fall semester unlike any we have experienced before, but I am confident that we will continue to respond to challenges with optimism and resilience. We are innovative. We are caring. We are adaptable. We find ways to give more than we take, just like our founders before us. That’s what Thunderbirds do. Let’s work together to create the best experience possible for each other and for our students.
Warm regards,
Scott
Story and photo courtesy of: Southern Utah University
