TO: University of Idaho Students, Faculty and Staff
FROM: Scott Green, President
Torrey Lawrence, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President
DATE: Oct. 2, 2020
SUBJECT: Preliminary Results Confirm Need to Test All Students and Maintain Flexible Course Delivery
A rise in positive COVID-19 test results last week from within our Greek community was certainly a cause for concern and illuminated the need for broader testing to better understand the spread of the virus.
We tested approximately 1,200 students and employees this week and the preliminary results showed continued spread in the Greek system but little increase in other populations. Because of this, we will continue as we did this week: campus will remain open and instructors who want to teach in person may continue to do so. Instructors preferring to teach remote/online may do so without additional approvals. Instructors need to communicate clearly with students about course delivery. Plan to return to your course’s original teaching format on Monday, Oct. 12. Expanded testing of our community will continue next week, including testing all students. Details will be shared on Monday.
Public Health indicated there are no cases linked back to classrooms. Public Health’s contact tracing shows most spread has come from living groups and social situations in which people are not following safety protocols.
Students should remain in Moscow. Online/remote class delivery is not an excuse to travel and increase your chances of infection. We have seven weeks until Thanksgiving, after which we will move to online-only delivery for the remainder of the semester.
Campus offices will remain at their current level of operation.
Complete testing results from this week will be available on the COVID-19 website on Monday, Oct. 5 and will be accompanied by the weekly COVID-19 update email. Email any questions to covid19questions@uidaho.edu.
Keep Calm and Vandal On.
Scott Green
President
president@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/president
Torrey Lawrence
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President
provost@uidaho.edu
uidaho.edu/provost