Students return to majority face-to-face course offerings for Fall 2021
EDITOR’S NOTE (8/27/2021): Information about vaccination and testing on campus will be updated as it becomes available.
Aug. 23 marks the return of students to campus for the first time since operations pivoted mostly online after the CDC declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020.
“A lot of what we’re doing is emerging almost daily,” said Nathan Vessey, coordinator for emergency management. “The newly emerging delta variant is causing us to make a lot of changes and we’re adapting as fast as we can with guidance from the UH System and the Department of State Health Services.”
While the university does not have a mask mandate, administration highly encourages students, staff and faculty both vaccinated and unvaccinated to wear masks and get tested while on campus. Furthermore, students and employees on campus should report positive COVID cases via the online form.
As of Aug. 27, one testing site is available to students on campus by the Delta and Arbor buildings. Another testing site is slated to open near the Student Services and Classroom Building and Bayou Building. Students, staff and faculty on campus are encouraged to get tested weekly, even if they are vaccinated. Additional precautions available to students include sanitizing wipes in each classroom to wipe down desks and chairs prior to class as well as hand sanitizing stations located outside of classrooms and in common areas across campus.
“We’re trying to influence students to wear a mask, vaccinated or not, and to get tested often. Know the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and get vaccinated at your earliest opportunity,” Vessey said.
Expectations for Students and Classes
The Fall 2021 semester consists of 59.34% face-to-face, 29.06% online and 11.60% hybrid courses. In Fall 2020, 17.1% were face-to-face (including bimodal), 75.56% of courses were online (synchronously or asynchronously) and 7.34% were hybrid (including bimodal) classes.
In an Aug. 11 address to students, faculty and staff, President Ira K. Blake explained that select courses will have reduced in-class capacity for the first two weeks of the semester. Depending on the number of students enrolled and frequency of class meetings, students may be online (synchronously or asynchronously) or in class face-to-face on alternating days. Those assigned to particular days in class or online will be selected at the professor’s discretion. As such, students should check their emails for correspondence from professors about what to expect during the first two weeks of classes.
UHCL is implementing technology in classrooms to provide students the option to virtually attend classes via simulcast. However, this is currently limited to select courses as the university brings this capability to more classrooms.
Sanitizing wipes are available in every classroom, hand sanitizing stations are dispersed throughout buildings and hallways, and classes will have plexiglass barriers between students and faculty. All buildings at UHCL and UHCL Pearland have been equipped with MERV-13 air filters per CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Available Student Services & Activities
Students seeking COVID-19 related financial aid can apply for the Online Learning Assistance and Reimbursement Program (oLARP) or the Hawk Emergency Fund Grant. For Fall 2021, students seeking assistance buying a new tablet or computer can apply to oLARP to receive a grant for up to 80% of the cost of their new device. The Hawk Emergency fund is meant for students facing unforeseen emergency circumstances which cause difficulty enrolling or remaining enrolled in classes.
The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
The Patio Cafe, Hawk’s Coffee House and Hawk Energy Bar are open. Mark Denney, vice president of administration and finance, encourages students to download the Boost mobile ordering app to help minimize long lines and crowds at the cafe. Students can place their order and then pick it up from the Boost mobile ordering window in the patio cafe.
Masks, Testing and Vaccinations
UHCL cannot mandate masks per Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order GA-38. However, university leadership encourages students, staff and faculty, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks and get tested regularly to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
UHCL partnered with HEB to distribute vaccines for students, staff and faculty on campus. As of Aug. 27, details about where and when vaccinations will take place on campus are not yet available.
Administrators are developing an incentive program to encourage students to get vaccinated. Those already vaccinated are also eligible for incentives upon presentation of their vaccination card. Providing this information to the university will also allow them to understand what percentage of the community is vaccinated against COVID-19.
University of Houston is offering every student who provides proof of vaccination $50 in ShastaBUCKS and a raffle entry for chances at one or two semester’s worth of tuition and fees and parking permits for an academic year (or $445 in ShastaBUCKS). College of the Mainland is offering a raffle entry for a $300 bookstore gift card to students who provide a copy of their vaccination card. As of Aug. 27, details about the vaccination incentive program are not yet available to UHCL staff, faculty or students.
Contact Tracing & Self Reporting
Administration strongly encourages students, staff and faculty to use the UHCL COVID-19 self-report form if they test positive for COVID-19. This way, contact tracers can interview positive cases and alert anyone who was in prolonged close contact with them in a classroom or office. Those who self-report a positive case will not be identified, but people who were in the same classroom or office as that individual for a prolonged time period will be alerted about potential exposure by contact tracers.
“What we want to do with COVID is not create that environment where students feel concerned about reporting or like they have to go to class,” said Steven Berberich, provost and vice president of academic affairs. “Faculty all understand, we have to create an environment where people are able to report and know that we’re going to support them no matter what they’re experiencing.”
Just like reporting vaccination status will help provide an idea of the percentage of UHCL community members vaccinated against COVID-19, Vessey said that students, faculty and staff getting tested frequently will help campus leadership keep track of any potential outbreaks or spikes in cases on campus.
Students & Staff Back on Campus
As of Aug. 17, the enrollment headcount for Fall 2021 is 9,014 students. Comparatively, August 2020’s headcount was 8,757 and August 2019’s was 8,849. The total headcount will change as late registration continues and drop dates for courses extend into October. For Fall 2019, total enrollment was 9,142 students and for Fall 2020 it was 9,144 students.
Although faculty and staff have been on campus in limited capacities since Summer and Fall of 2020 and Spring and Summer of 2021, Aug. 2 marked the return of staff to campus at 100% operations. While campus is operating at 100%, it does not mean 100% of employees have returned to campus. Some staff are continuing to work remotely and scheduling specific on-campus work days among teams to ensure 100% operations of services both remotely and in person. Students can walk-in, call or email for any services they require on campus.
Conclusion
Administrators continue to encourage vaccination, mask wearing, hand washing/sanitizing, frequent testing and knowing the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 to minimize the spread on campus. Vaccination and testing incentives will be announced early in the semester and will apply to everyone, even those who have already been vaccinated.
“We may know what each of us are experiencing on campus but we don’t know anything about what someone else is experiencing off campus,” Denney said. “So be collaborative, be supportive, be reasonable and be compassionate. Our modern world, in my opinion, is going to keep throwing these types of challenges our way and get more complex. The only way that we are going to get through it is to be compassionate and work together.”
