September 3, 2020
I am so happy to have students back on campus and to see so many of you following the precautions intended to protect our UCF community.
For Knights who have returned to campus, remember that the on-campus experience this fall depends on each of us taking personal responsibility for our actions. Especially with Labor Day weekend approaching, we must continue to find ways to de-stress and socialize that are also considerate of how COVID-19 is spread.
A new university policy, Student Behavioral Expectations in Response to COVID-19, is designed to help you and other Knights remain healthy and well while on and off campus. We encourage you to read the policy in full, but a few highlights are listed below:
- Students must not engage in conduct that could endanger the health, safety or well-being of others.
- Students must avoid hosting or attending gatherings or events of 12 or more where there is woeful or willful disregard for public health best practices related to COVID-19.
- At all other times indoors and outdoors, including when gathering in groups of fewer than 12, students must always wear facial coverings, maintain six feet of social distance, and practice frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitizer.
- Student organizations who receive approval for face-to-face events must follow health guidelines and model good behavior.
- Students must comply immediately with a request from a university official addressing health, safety or welfare, such as a request to wear a face covering or practice physical distancing.
- Students returning to any UCF campus must fill out the COVID Self-Checker available in the UCF Mobile app each day before arriving on campus.
- Students must notify the university if they test positive for COVID-19 by calling the UCF COVID Line, 407-823-2509. They must follow the instructions provided, which includes cooperating with the contact tracing process.
- There are additional expectations for UCF Housing residents listed in the policy that residents also acknowledged in the addendum to their housing agreement.
This policy was developed to set clear expectations about how we can best care for one another. We expect compliance. Failure to do so — regardless of whether you are on or off campus — could result in disciplinary action, up to and including separation from the university, removal from campus, and termination of a student’s UCF Housing agreement.
We expect you to hold each other accountable and to report problems that could jeopardize our community’s health or well-being, including issues involving faculty, staff or vendors. Reports about non-compliance with COVID-19 guidelines can be made to UCF’s IntegrityLine.
Remember that your proactive measures make a difference. Take these steps to plan for a safer social experience:
- Reduce the number of attendees
- Keep your distance
- Require face coverings to be worn the whole time — indoors and outdoors
- Take your event outside
- Use a virtual option to get together
Learn more about ways to get involved, including events scheduled for Labor Day weekend, on KnightConnect.
We encourage you to take the pledge to Armor Up to show your commitment to the responsible behaviors necessary to prevent spread of the pandemic within the UCF community.
Stay safe, and Charge On!
Maribeth Ehasz, Ph.D.
Vice President, Student Development and Enrollment Services