■ UNIVERSITIES:

University planning to send out returns when semester ends

After asking students to leave campus, UCF and many other state universities plan to issue partial refunds for housing fees already paid for the spring semester.

After asking students earlier this month to leave campus, UCF and many other state universities plan to issue partial refunds for housing fees already paid for the spring semester.

University of Central Florida students living on campus will receive refunds for the portion of their housing fees paid from March 30 to April 28, when the spring semester ends. University trustees approved the plan Thursday during a teleconference meeting.

Students living in the UnionWest dorm on the university’s downtown campus will also receive refunds, developer Craig Ustler confirmed Thursday. The complex is managed by the university but privately owned.

The refunds come at a cost of more than $5.3 million to the university, according to materials provided by UCF. The university is working with its food service company, Aramark, to provide meal plan refunds or credits that could be used later but no plan is in place yet.

Public universities in Florida were ordered to switch courses to an online-only format for the rest of the semester and cancel commencement ceremonies last week to help stop the spread of coronavirus. UCF told most students still on campus to leave by last Wednesday; students who weren’t on campus but still had personal belongings in their rooms were told to come back at a later date.

The Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system, urged institutions to provide refunds or credits to students who weren’t able to use their dorm or dining plan contracts for the rest of the semester.

“We recognize that each university will need flexibility in developing and implementing a plan appropriate for its students,” spokeswoman Renee Fargason wrote in a statement. “We also rec