May 10, 2021
UCF is thankful that so many in our community have been vaccinated, and we highly encourage those who have not been vaccinated to do so.
Following guidance from the Board of Governors and in collaboration with other State University System institutions, UCF encourages rather than requires our campus community to wear face coverings indoors and to follow CDC guidelines on our campuses and everywhere you go. This is a change from our previous requirement to wear face coverings, and it reflects our campus community’s many efforts to get vaccinated and the low number of COVID-19 cases at UCF.
Beginning June 23, as we prepare to welcome students for the Summer B term that starts the following week, we will begin largely operating the way we did before the pandemic. This includes eliminating physical distancing requirements and allowing for full participation in athletic and social events.
Many UCF employees have been working on our campuses throughout the pandemic, serving our students and supporting faculty members. As we prepare for a fuller return to UCF, this will include more employees returning to their pre-COVID workspaces. Employees and supervisors need to begin to consider what a return to more in-office work will mean for them and their areas. More information, including a forthcoming updated remote work policy, and additional guidance to assist employees and managers regarding expectations will be shared soon.
As we continue to develop plans for the rest of the year, we also will share more details about what the shift to pre-COVID operations will mean for our classes, workspaces, activities, events, athletics and more. We also will be updating our COVID-19 policy to reflect these changes.
Vaccines are key in UCF’s ability to take our next steps while prioritizing our community’s health and safety. To help our community get vaccinated, the UCF Student Health Center will begin distributing additional vaccines starting next week. We will share more information soon about how you can make an appointment.
With no-cost vaccines widely available at numerous community providers, we strongly encourage everyone in our campus community to get vaccinated to protect yourself and reduce the spread of the virus.
All three of the available vaccines are highly effective, and the risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 outweighs concerns about side effects from the vaccine. Please watch this video featuring faculty experts from UCF’s College of Medicine to learn more about debunked vaccine myths and why each of us should be vaccinated for the good of everyone.
Many of UCF’s efforts to prevent COVID-19 will continue in the summer and fall, including testing, contact tracing and the COVID Line. We ask that all students and employees continue to monitor their symptoms and stay home if they are feeling unwell. We will continue to encourage all Knights to use the COVID Self-Checker available in the UCF Mobile app or online to screen their symptoms.
Thank you for your efforts to get vaccinated and for continuing to Armor Up!