Dear campus community,

I write today to let you know that based on the advice of our epidemiologists at UF Health, we are planning to return to a largely normal course offering for summer B and fall. That means students who want to take face-to-face courses in a classroom with a professor will be able to do so.  A normal selection of online courses will also be available, and we expect to be able to provide a nearly typical summer B and fall classroom experience.

This decision is based on the favorable progress in vaccinations and continued declines in positive cases on campus, in our community and elsewhere. We expect these trends to continue.

The university has considerable experience with holding in-person classes during the pandemic.  Over 16,000 undergraduates are enrolled in face-to-face courses right now during the Spring semester.  Forty-three percent of all undergraduates are taking one or more face-to-face courses.  To date, we have seen no evidence of COVID transmission in classrooms or laboratories.

Summer A and C semesters will be conducted in the same way as the Spring semester – with physical distancing, reduced classroom capacities and hybrid classes – a combination of in-person and synchronous online instruction.

We will continue to monitor conditions, and if there is an unexpected change in the health status of our campus and our experts at UF Health advise us that we must alter our plans, then we will.

As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will continue to take precautions to avoid this. For Summer B and Fall, we may continue to wear masks, based on guidance that suggests a small possibility that those who are vaccinated could still harbor the virus and spread it to others.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you – students, faculty and staff – for the resilience and dedication you have demonstrated throughout the pandemic. It has truly been a challenge, but I want to thank you all for rising to meet that challenge. We look forward to a successful Summer B and Fall.


Joe Glover, Provost and Senior Vice President