UF officials confident return to campus is safe
School hopes steps taken, delayed Aug. 31 start can be a model
GAINESVILLE —The University of Florida Board of Trustees met Thursday to discuss a reopening strategy that calls for extensive use of social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer and many other safety measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.
UF plans to begin fall classes on campus Aug. 31, a week later than initially scheduled, while hoping to set an example for the university system within the state and beyond.
“We commit to being a model for the nation in how higher ed can reopen and fulfill our missions of student success, education and research,” UF President Kent Fuchs said.
The Florida trustees are expected to vote on the plan Friday and submit a final proposal June 12 to the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s 12 public universities.
UF officials then will meet with the board on June 23.
“That plan is certainly going to evolve as circumstances locally and nationally evolve,” Fuchs said.
The meeting Thursday opened with Gov. Ron DeSantis addressing the group working to
reopen the state’s flagship university, which has largely been shuttered since March 16.
“I think it’s important we have our universities back, with the University of Florida leading the way,” DeSantis said.
To lead the way and return around 55,000 students to campus amid a worldwide health crisis will require creating a safe environment for students, faculty and staff, particularly those at risk due to age or health concerns.
“It’s an incredibly challenging and complex environment we’re returning to,” said Charlie Lane, UF’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Florida students, however, seem eager to return to campus.
Around 95% of the contracts have been signed for nearly 8,000 on-campus housing units, while the off-campus housing market also is in high demand.
UF provost Joe Glover said the freshmen class size is expected to remain around its standard size of 6,500. There are no indications of a major dropoff in returning students, either.
Florida does anticipate an international graduate student attendance to decline due to the travel demands and restrictions caused by the virus.
“That is a problem that is being watched very closely … around the country,” Glover said.
A screening questionnaire developed by UF Health will be mandatory for all students. Testing then will be required for students who indicate symptoms or are high risk, or those students in clinical settings in the Florida health care system. Voluntary testing also is available, with priority given to students from “defined” hotspots.
Dozens of rooms at different locations will be available for students who need to quarantine.
UF officials anticipate students will be anxious to engage with each other after more than five months away from campus, but they plan to emphasize the risk of ignoring safe practices. Face coverings and physical distancing will be enforced.
D’Andra Mull, UF’s vice president for student affairs, encourages students to be “socially engaged while being physically distanced” — a phrase Fuchs later would repeat for emphasis.
Students in their teens and early 20s, after all, are not always easy to convince what is best for them. Yet, the coronavirus will be omnipresent during the fall semester and someone on UF’s campus is at some point sure to become infected.
“We’re going to live with COVID all summer long and in the fall,” said Dr. David Nelson, senior vice president for health affairs at UF. “We’re going to have to deal with having people on campus with COVID.”
To mitigate the risk of infection and the virus’ spread, students must follow UF safety guidelines.
Trevor J. Pope, a second-year law student and student representative on board of trustees, said he is confident his fellow students ultimately will be responsible and respectful of the Gainesville community.
Data presented Thursday show face coverings reduce risk of infections by 85%, while three feet of distance reduces the risk by 82%. Each addition three feet of distance more than doubles the level of protection.
“I think the issue is right now students may not necessarily know the statistics,” Pope said. “They’re not sitting in these meetings seeing how effective wearing the mask is. Just making this a part of our culture and who we are as Gators is going to be incredibly valuable. For me personally, if I walked into the Reitz Union and I’m not the only one wearing a mask, I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot, I better put my mask on.’
“I think if we’re able to facilitate that kind of culture and hold each student accountable to their peers, I think we will be effective.”
UF is banking on it.
The school’s shutdown and sudden move to online learning came at a reported loss of about $42 million for the spring and summer semesters.
Relaunching operations has been an expensive and onerous logistical enterprise.
The school ordered 1.5 million disposable masks and is ordering at least 75,000 cloth masks featuring Gator logos for students. Protocol signage has been put up in 639 buildings and 417 hand sanitizer stations have been added.
All students likely will have to adjust classes schedules. By July 1, UF plans to complete a massive overhaul of the schedule based on size and modality of up to 50,000 classes. Some will be staged face-to-face, others will continue online, while other classes will be a hybrid of the two.
“Revising the fall schedule is a big operation,” said Glover, UF’s provost.
Time will tell how the fall semester will play out at Florida, but optimism abounds.
“You’re hearing some universities saying, we’re only going to do distance learning,” DeSantis said. “To me, that’s throwing in the towel. You can always make adjustments.”
The governor’s fullspeed-ahead attitude was contagious Thursday at UF’s Emerson Hall, where the board of trustees will meet against Friday.
“We are not stopping,” board chairman Mori Hosseini said. “The University of Florida is going forward.”