Published: May 12, 2020

Dear Colorado Law students, faculty, and staff,

Congratulations to all on the successful completion of another semester, especially given the extraordinary circumstances. And a special congratulations to the Class of 2020!

As you know, both the university and the law school are in the process of developing plans for the fall semester in light of the COVID-19 situation. As I’ve stated before, we are determined to return to an on-campus experience in the fall, but we must do so in a way that safeguards health and is considerate of the circumstances of all those concerned. In his message last Friday, the Chancellor said, "The foundation of our planning effort is the development of a robust health and safety model that will include testing, tracing, enhanced sanitation, personal protective equipment, reduced population density on campus, the ability to isolate suspected cases and a robust training and education program."

On this basis, the CU Boulder campus' Academic Year 2020-21 Planning Team, of which I am a part, has been busy developing proposed guidelines and methods for fall classes and is scheduled to have a series of recommendations to the Chancellor for a decision by him on or before June 1. The planning team has been collecting ideas for the fall here.

The campus planning team coordinators will be holding tomorrow, Wednesday, May 13, two information and input sessions at which they will be sharing proposed approaches to the 2020-2021 academic year. Details on these opportunities to learn about and give feedback on the campus’ 2020 planning are available on this webpage.

In the meantime, the law school task force on fall 2020 has developed ideas for conducting classes in the fall semester that are specific to the law school. In the last few days we have been getting feedback from faculty members on the task force’s ideas and proposed options, and we will be rolling out means of getting input from students and staff in the coming days.

I’m encouraged by the progress being made on the planning at the campus and law school levels. The campus and law school administrations look forward to your input in the days and weeks ahead. I am confident that the creativity and resilience among us will lay down a way forward for our community of learning to continue to thrive.

Be well,

S. James Anaya

Dean and University Distinguished Professor