COVID-19 Update for Campus Community:
CU Denver to transition to remote teaching and learning

March 11, 2020 @ 12:02 p.m.

Dear Campus Community,

I’m writing to update you on new teaching and learning policies that CU Denver will be implementing in the coming days in response to COVID-19. This is the first in what will be a series of communications on steps we are taking.

Although there are still no known cases at CU Denver, we have decided the time is now to put in place policies to slow the spread of the virus, before we begin to see cases on campus. 

Today, we are announcing several actions to help limit the COVID-19 risk on campus. We will continue to fulfill our mission by ensuring that students are able to meet their educational requirements and faculty are able to continue their research and scholarship. The campus will remain open to allow that to occur. We will continue to operate campus facilities, including our residence hall, library, and the Student Wellness Center. We are working with our Auraria Campus partners on the handling of shared facilities.

We are also taking the following actions, which will be in effect until further notice. We will be providing additional guidance and direction about how to implement each of these decisions in the coming days.

• Remote Teaching and Learning – By Monday, March 30, we expect to have full implementation of remote teaching and learning. This means that classes will not be held on campus. Faculty will be determining how best to use technology, such as Canvas and Zoom, to enable students to complete their coursework. For the remainder of the next two weeks and through the March 23 – 27 spring break, we will be testing and preparing for the transition.
  
  At this time, we expect remote learning to continue for the rest of the spring semester. If circumstances change, we will re-evaluate this decision.
  
• Remote Work – Employees should work with their supervisor to evaluate whether their responsibilities can be performed remotely. Units have been developing continuity of operations plans to evaluate and test remote work scenarios; we will continue to test and refine these plans through the end of spring break.

The safety of our community is our top priority. We realize that these actions will cause disruption—and that you will have additional questions on the above information—but the risk of not acting outweighs the inconvenience of these temporary measures.  Please continue to refer to our COVID-19 website as it will be updated regularly.  

We acknowledge that these are extraordinary times that require exceptional measures to deal with a health risk that affects all of us. Thank you for all that you have done and will do to show care and compassion as we confront the challenges that COVID-19 poses in our community. I appreciate your patience and cooperation.  We will get through this together. 

 

With gratitude,

 

Dorothy Horrell
Chancellor