Road Map to Fall 2020: July 23 update

As announced at the end of May, the CU Boulder community is making preparations for a COVID-19-ready campus for the fall semester, with classes beginning on Aug. 24. Three groups were established to assist in the implementation of the Road Map to Fall 2020:

• COVID-19-Ready Campus Team
• Academic Instruction Team
• Resource Alignment Team

These teams are hard at work building the infrastructure and procedures that will be necessary to mitigate risk and facilitate research and teaching this fall. As part of this iterative process, the teams are committed to sharing regular updates on their progress.

News from the COVID-19-Ready Implementation Team 

• A building proctor forum was held to review facility plans and COVID-19 mitigation measures and more sessions will be scheduled soon.  
• Climate-controlled tents will not be used for classes. Facilities Management is still exploring the possibility of using open-air tents as multi-purpose spaces. 
• Campus classroom airflow testing continues and HEPA units are being installed in naturally ventilated classroom spaces.    
• The COVID-19-ready implementation team is working through establishing a process for the distribution of campus-provided facial coverings.
• The MOU with Boulder County Public Health to allow CU to conduct contact tracing and case management was approved.
• CU Boulder is currently under negotiation with local hotels to potentially house a small percentage of students this fall. This decision is part of the effort to reduce housing density across campus. The living space in a hotel would be operated with campus housing staff and include additional amenities and resources. 
• Detailed updates on infrastructure mitigation efforts can be found on the Infrastructure & Sustainability mitigation efforts webpage.

News from the Academic Instruction Implementation Team 

• The fourth edition of Academic Instruction guidance was sent to deans, chairs and directors on July 16. This edition included updates on classroom space and scheduling; student class registration; pass/fail and “No Credit” changes; and OIT services. It also included new guidance about enrollment for international students taking classes remotely from outside the U.S.; office hours and advising; and field classes, fieldwork and internships. 
• The Office of the Registrar, in conjunction with the schools and colleges and the Program in Exploratory Studies, has completed pre-registration of first-year students in selected courses within their academic cohorts. First-year student enrollment is scheduled to take place July 20-July 31 (by assignment), and registration for all new and continuing students will reopen on Aug. 3. 
• The Facilities Task Force has nearly completed its evaluation of nontraditional spaces on campus that can be converted to classroom use in fall 2020. Working with the Facilities Task Force and academic departments and programs, the Office of the Registrar is completing revisions to the class schedule that include these new classroom options. 
• The implementation team is beginning the fifth edition of Academic Instruction guidance. This edition will focus primarily on topics important to individual faculty, instructors, lecturers, GPTIs and TAs as they finish planning their fall 2020 classes. Topics include health and safety protocols related to faculty and student illness; attendance policies; syllabus statements; and effective teaching practices in the remote classroom, the hybrid classroom, and the in-person masked classroom. 

News from the Resource Alignment Implementation Team 

Members of the Resource Alignment Implementation Team (RAIT), which is responsible for allocating one-time funding associated with responding to COVID-19, met on July 17 and discussed and approved funding for the following: 

• Items needed to support safe physical distancing for transportation options, such as gates for necessary street closures and bike path graphics and signs
• Base signage packages for campus buildings to support health, safety and social distance practices
• Cleaning and disinfection supplies for electronic equipment in hybrid-ready classrooms and computer labs
• Access control equipment upgrades for electronic access and building control protocols in buildings supporting academic classes
• Staffing and equipment to support additional COVID-19 related clinical services 
• Alcohol and sanitizer for research labs 
• COVID-19 CLI/PCR viral tests, PCR machine and supplies  
• Ongoing testing, including pooled tests and sewage testing
• Digital campus toolkit (app) for public health monitoring
• A second order of 40,000 reusable masks to provide two masks for every student, faculty and staff member 
• Additional disposable masks 
• Support for captioning needs 

The team also discussed the following proposed items and after assessing availability of funds over the next week, will recommended a process to support more unit-specific needs of colleges and schools: 

• Ergonomic accommodations for faculty and staff who will be working remotely through the fall semester
• Specific PPE for academic activities such as music, theater, dance or studio classes 
• Additional cleaning supplies to offices, individual hand sanitizers or other supplies for spaces that are not serviced by facilities operations 
• Anticipated cleaning and testing supplies for Spring 2021 

Do you have a question or comment about implementation team work on the Road Map to Fall 2020? Submit a question or comment.