Coronavirus FAQs

Faculty members may hold their office hours online, in person, or a combination of both. Please consider what works best for your students.

Our expectation is that students, faculty and staff wear masks while indoors, in line with CDC guidance and with Florida’s State University System and to help protect our campus community. However, neither the university nor individual faculty and staff members may require individuals to wear masks if they choose not to do so. The exception to this involves health-care facilities such as the Student Health Center, UCF Health, and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which still require face coverings inside their buildings. Additionally, as a simulated clinical environment, the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center at the College of Medicine also requires face coverings.

No member of the UCF community is permitted to require any other member of the UCF community to wear a face covering on campus, whether in an office, classroom or other location. You may encourage others to wear face coverings, but you may not require them to do so.

Meetings, training sessions and other group discussions should continue to occur in virtual platforms, rather than traditional face-to-face meetings, as much as possible. Some of the available tools are Skype, Teams and Zoom. Continued physical distancing remains critical to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

Yes. Students who received any amount of funding from prior rounds of awards are eligible to receive funds in this round.

Students will be able to opt in to having the funds directly applied to their tuition and fees balance. Details about how to opt in will be included when students are notified that they will receive funds.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines currently in use in the U.S. use the live virus that causes COVID-19. The goal of vaccination is to teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Sometimes this process can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are a sign that the body is building immunity.

Yes, Student Health Services offers the Pfizer vaccine and booster shots to faculty, staff and students. They are available at no cost at the Student Health Center or at a convenient location near you.

Yes, Student Health Services offers the Pfizer vaccine, including booster shots, to faculty, staff and students, including students who live out of state. They are available at no cost at the Student Health Center or at a convenient location near you.

You may use your p-card as usual. Follow the routine guidelines and procedures. All F&A procedures remain status quo until further notice.

Departments should proceed as they normally would with regular orders for office items such as soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels and other cleaning supplies. These items are especially important as employees begin returning to work and have the need to clean their personal workspaces, and departments should continue with their normal processes for procuring these supplies at their own cost.

Departments with additional needs for cleaning and disinfecting supplies beyond their regular orders should seek authorization prior to purchasing by directing their requests to eoc@ucf.edu. It is important that any new requests for items intended to prevent further spread of COVID-19 funnel through this centralized request system in case there is a possibility for future reimbursement.

There is no mandate to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and UCF is not collecting any proof of vaccination status. However, all eligible individuals are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as they are able. In addition to protecting each recipient against infection, it is essential that a large enough percentage of the population receives the vaccine in order to achieve “herd immunity” to prevent continued spread of the virus causing COVID-19. We must each play our part in this process, as we have in the past with vaccines to eliminate the threat of polio, measles and other viral infections.

The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees state universities, has directed UCF, along with the state’s other public universities, to extend our period of remote learning through the end of the spring semester. This important and necessary action will protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff.

Faculty and staff who are working remotely should expect to continue to do so for the immediate weeks ahead. We will continue to keep you informed about remote working guidelines as decisions are made about campus operations for the remainder of the spring semester.

No. However, we still encourage you to fill out the FAFSA to help ensure you can access all of the financial aid resources available to you.

No. UCF has ordered enough face coverings for all students and faculty and staff members, and they will be available throughout the summer and fall semesters.

International, DACA, TPS and other undocumented students who apply are required to provide support documentation in order to determine financial need and/or hardship.

UCF students who are U.S. citizens, permanent U.S. residents or eligible non-citizens should complete the application found at this link: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8l91Kgf1U5Mh1Qy

International students and/or students who are classified as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) should complete the application found at this link: http://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1RCgC8kEymfaiqy

The request to wear masks can be simple: “Please wear masks in this class for the protection of yourselves and those around you who may be at higher risk from COVID complications.” Or, you may add personal reasons that this is a matter of concern to you, such as living with someone who is immunocompromised and at higher risk. Please be certain that you are asking, not attempting to mandate.

We understand that your students respect you and trust you as their faculty member. You can show them the ucf.edu/coronavirus website for the latest information and resources, and if appropriate, point them to UCF Counseling and Psychological Services.

UCF Card Services is open for students and employees in need of a new or replacement UCF Card.

New students who have not yet received their UCF ID will receive their face covering in conjunction with distribution of their UCF Cards later this summer.

Disposable masks will be provided to building liaisons for distribution upon request, and more information will be shared with those individuals in the coming weeks.

It is recommended that the face coverings are washed by hand with mild liquid detergent after each day’s use and then hung dry.

Each student who is awarded funds will receive $2,000.

More information is listed in the COVID-19 Return to Campus Policy.

Students enrolled for any semester during the pandemic – since Spring 2020 – are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to students enrolled in Fall 2021. Awards to other students will be contingent upon the availability of funding.

If students are continuing to experience financial distress, they are encouraged to contact Student Care Services to discuss eligibility for Student Emergency funds by emailing caremanager@ucf.edu.

Yes. A year will be added to your original dossier submission date. You will still be able to request a withdrawal of some or all of your tenure credit per regulation 3.015 if you would like to do so at a later date.

Yes. A year will be added to the adjusted time period following the previous extension.

Submit the request to your chair/director (or dean if there are no departments/schools in the college) using the tenure clock extension COVID-19 form. A recommendation is made to the dean, who forwards a recommendation to Faculty Excellence. The extension is issued by Faculty Excellence. It is understood that such requests will be presumptively approved.

More information, including a forthcoming updated remote work policy, and additional guidance to assist employees and managers regarding expectations will be shared soon. In order to appropriately provide excellent service and resources for our students and faculty, not all requests for remote or hybrid work schedules should be expected to be approved.

No, but the self-checker remains available in the UCF Mobile app and online as a tool for screening symptoms, and we encourage students, faculty, staff and campus visitors to use it.

The Recreation and Wellness Center (RWC) and Wellness and Health Promotion Services (WHPS) will close effective March 14, 2020 as part of the preventative steps UCF is taking to minimize health and safety risks to our students, faculty, and staff due to the spread of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The closures will last at least two weeks or until university emergency management officials clear the UCF community to use RWC and WHPS programs and services again. The closures include:

• Recreation and Wellness Center
  • Recreation and Wellness Center (Main)
  • RWC @ Downtown
  • RWC @ Knights Plaza
  • RWC @ Ferrell Commons
  • William E. and Mary Jo Davis Recreation Area at Lake Claire
  • RWC Leisure and Lap Pools
  • RWC Tennis Complex, Sand Volleyball Courts, and Outdoor Basketball Courts
  • RWC Park
  • Disc Course and Challenge Course
• Wellness and Health Promotion Services
  • WHPS Offices (first floor of the RWC)

The RWC is an early voting site for eligible voters in Orange County and will remain open to people wanting to cast an early ballot from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday, March 15.

Yes. If you are scheduled to submit your tenure dossier after August 2020, then you must file your tenure clock extension request by September 1, 2020.

No, the money is a federal emergency grant that is not required to be repaid.

UCF will suspend all campus events starting Saturday, March 14, through at least Monday, March 30, mirroring the period of remote instruction. Should the period of remote instruction be extended, the suspension of events would automatically be extended for the same time.

March’s Market Day is canceled.

No. UCF is committed to protecting your privacy. The symptoms you indicate in the self-checker will not be shared or stored in any system of record.

The CDC recommends vaccinations regardless of whether an individual has previously had COVID-19. Reinfections do occur, and vaccines offer protection against severe illness and hospitalization. Getting sick with COVID-19 may offer some protection from future illness with COVID-19, sometimes called “natural immunity.” However, no currently available test can reliably determine if a person is protected from infection.

As a faculty member, if you test positive or have symptoms:

• Stay home.
• Call the UCF COVID Line at 407-823-2509 if you test positive.
• Notify your chair.
• If you are ill, take sick leave. Work with your chair to arrange substitute instruction or
  activities.
• If you feel well, your class may be temporarily remote until you are cleared to come
  back. Your chair will email Jana Jasinski, and you will be notified of the decision.

Per usual protocols, faculty should take sick leave and work with their chair to arrange substitute instruction, activities or arrangements on a temporary basis. Staff members should contact their supervisor immediately. Some staff members may be able to work remotely while out of the office if they are feeling well enough to do so and their jobs can accommodate remote work.

Members of the UCF community with a medical condition requiring an accommodation should complete the Reasonable Accommodation Request form and submit it to the Office of Institutional Equity.

Students, faculty and staff should stay home if they are sick. Students should notify their faculty members as soon as possible if they are sick or test positive for COVID-19 and need to stay home from face-to-face classes. Faculty will no longer be notified by the university if a student in a face-to-face course tests positive, and they should utilize their customary attendance policies. Students will be expected to make up classwork, the same as a student who falls ill from the flu or other illness.

The CDC states that any vaccine can cause side effects. For the most part these are minor, for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever that go away within a few days.

Student emergency grants can be used for any component of the student’s cost of attendance (COA) or for emergency costs that arise due to coronavirus, such as tuition, food, housing, healthcare (including mental healthcare) or childcare.

Interim Provost Michael Johnson has asked faculty to refrain from requiring attendance during the first few weeks of the spring semester so ill students don’t feel compelled to come to class. Attendance policies should be relaxed as much as possible without compromising the learning objectives of the course. During this time, faculty are encouraged to make an extra effort to make course information available to absent students so they can remain in their courses. The current COVID-19 wave is expected to last weeks, not months, so it is hoped that this will be a short-term request and that regular attendance policies can take effect later in the semester.

They should follow the policy at the state college where they are working or studying.

Increased cleaning and classroom disinfections will continue, along with access to hand-sanitizing stations. During the pandemic, many touchless faucets, paper-towel dispensers and step-and-pull door openers were installed in high-touch areas. Additionally, HVAC systems across UCF’s campuses also have been upgraded over the past year to mitigate the spread of pathogens through the air.

UCF continues to provide the COVID Line for reporting positive cases and the optional COVID Self-Checker remains available. We continue to monitor the virus, including through wastewater testing and genomic surveillance.

• Tell them to call the UCF COVID Line.
• When the student calls the COVID Line that begins a process through which you will be
  notified by Jana Jasinski that the student may be away from your in-person class
  temporarily. You only need to work with the student so they may continue in the class.
• If you have concerns about a student not calling the COVID Line, you may call to provide
  the student’s name to COVID Line nurses
• Please do not tell or advise your entire class to contact the COVID Line.

Consider testing if you may have COVID-19 symptoms. If you become ill or test positive, stay home, avoid others and do not go to class, work or other activities. Stay isolated until five days after a positive test and until any symptoms have improved.

No. As per regulation 3.015, faculty may choose to be considered for tenure on the regularly scheduled time period (in the sixth year for faculty not in the College of Medicine and the eighth year in the College of Medicine).

Those with limitations due to a medical condition that qualify for an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can request an accommodation by completing the Reasonable Accommodation Request form and submitting it to the Office of Institutional Equity. For more information about the accommodation request process, please visit the OIE website.

Note that being at increased risk of severe illness related to COVID-19 alone does not qualify for an accommodation under the ADA.

If you become ill or test positive, you should isolate and avoid contact with others. Wear a well-fitting mask if you must be around others, and wash hands and sanitize shared surfaces after using.

If you lost your CDC COVID-19 Vaccination card or don’t have a copy, contact your vaccination provider directly. Students, faculty and staff who received their vaccine from Student Health Services can stop by the Health Center and ask to speak with a Nurse Facilitator for assistance.

If a faculty member has a majority of their tenure earning credit by the time new tenure criteria are adopted, they shall be evaluated for tenure under the criteria as they existed prior to modification unless the employee notified the university in writing at least 30 days prior to commencement of the tenure consideration that they choose to be evaluated under the newly adopted criteria.

Applications will remain open until further notice.

Dining Services has enhanced sanitation procedures already in place and has temporarily paused the use of reusable cups in its facilities. Everyone is encouraged to thoroughly wash or sanitize their hands prior to eating.

Students who are ineligible for HEERF funds and are experiencing financial crisis may contact Student Care Services to be screened for additional support. Be advised that some resources will not become available until all other avenues of financial assistance have been exhausted. If you are unsure of your current financial aid options, please contact Student Financial Assistance to confirm if you have aid available.

Students who receive HEERF funds may reach out to Student Care Services for screening for additional emergency funds if still they are experiencing a financial crisis such as pending eviction, food insecurity, or homelessness.

Student Care Services: caremanager@ucf.edu

Beginning April 1, 2020, you can formally apply for the extension.

Awards will be made on a rolling basis as applications are received. UCF plans to begin awarding the money to students enrolled in Fall 2021 by early September. You will receive an email notification when you receive your award, and awards will be posted in myUCF.

UCF offers the two-dose Pfizer shot series as well as Pfizer booster shots.

You can send an email to covid19questions@ucf.edu and we will follow up with you.

If your question is not answered here, email CARESAct@ucf.edu. Emails will be responded to within 48 business hours in the order in which they were received.

Anyone who completed their initial Pfizer vaccine series at least five months ago, completed their Moderna series at least six months ago or received their Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago is eligible for a booster.

All presently employed tenure-earning faculty who will apply for tenure during or after the 2020-2021 academic year are eligible. If you are currently scheduled to submit your tenure dossier in August 2020, you are eligible.

Those excluded from this opportunity are faculty members who have already been considered for tenure this academic year (that is, those who submitted their dossier in fall 2019, and those tenure-track faculty who will begin their employment with UCF on or after April 1, 2020).

Students enrolled during any semester impacted by COVID-19 – since Spring 2020 — are eligible to apply for the funds. Students enrolled in Fall 2021 will be given priority; awards for other students will be subject to the availability of funding. UCF Continuing Education students are not eligible to apply.

Yes. For faculty who are teaching a face-to-face course, you will be notified if a student will be unable to attend class due to COVID. UCF’s public health professionals also determine whether other steps are needed in your class. For example, if contact tracers see a pattern of positive tests in your class, they may determine that the class needs to meet remotely for a time. Faculty may not move to remote teaching on their own, based on reports of illness.

UCF continues to encourage our campus community to follow CDC guidelines after you have been vaccinated. Doing so will help to protect you, your loved ones and your fellow Knights.

As long as the university is open, mail service will continue. Supply delivery may fluctuate as vendors will implement their own procedures and may not be making deliveries. If you have not already done so, we suggest checking in with your suppliers and making plans to ensure you have all the materials you need for your work.

No. The standards specified in your department/school and college governance documents, as well as Regulation 3.015, remain in effect when your tenure review occurs. The department/school and college standards will be applied without prejudice.

UCF will continue some of our pandemic response measures into the summer. These include making hand sanitizer and masks available and continuing our wastewater and genomic testing surveillance. During the pandemic, many touchless faucets, paper-towel dispensers and step-and-pull door openers were installed in high-touch areas. Additionally, HVAC systems across UCF’s campuses also have been upgraded to mitigate the spread of pathogens through the air.

We continue to monitor COVID-19 cases in our community and on campus and will share any updates to UCF’s plans with the campus community. The UCF coronavirus website is also kept updated with the latest information.