May 6, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

I wanted to let you know that the Fall 2021 class schedule will be published on Friday, May 7, and our plans are to return to a pre-pandemic schedule where most courses are in person with a strategic set of classes offered online. The university continues to work closely with Lane County public health officials, the Oregon Health Authority, and Governor Kate Brown’s office over the best ways to maintain a safe environment for our students, faculty, and staff.

Despite some recent setbacks in public health metrics, we are confident that come fall it will be safe to conduct classes at our normal, pre-pandemic capacities. As such, we will publish the full-capacity schedule to allow students to register for their classes on time.

Given the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations to public health, the university is carefully considering our options for requiring members of the UO community to be vaccinated. We are engaging with employee and student groups, as well as public health partners, as we consider a path forward. We know this decision is important to the community and we will be communicating on that topic very soon.

Our university will continue to follow local, state, and national public health guidance regarding face coverings, sanitization, and testing. Please note that should conditions change as we get closer to fall term, we will adjust our courses accordingly based on a backup reduced-capacity schedule. The full-capacity schedule will be published with the following language:

“DISCLAIMER: This schedule is subject to change based on university needs, departmental changes, or changes in public health guidance. This may include changes to course modality, classrooms, and – in rare instances – changes to course times.”

Instructors scheduled to teach fall term should plan to use the modality that is listed for each individual class in the published schedule. Any accommodations or adjustments to an employee’s work will follow normal HR procedures for approval.

The pandemic certainly has not made things easy for any of us, but the flexibility and adaptive response of our faculty and staff has been nothing short of admirable. I appreciate all of your efforts and I am grateful for your patience as we continue to monitor the effects of the coronavirus on our UO community and beyond.

Sincerely,

Patrick Phillips
Provost and Senior Vice President