fbpx COVID-19 UPDATES FOR STUDENTS: PASS/FAIL DEADLINE MAY 1 AT 11:59 PM | University of Kentucky College of Engineering

COVID-19 UPDATES FOR STUDENTS: PASS/FAIL DEADLINE MAY 1 AT 11:59 PM

March 17, 2020

This is the College of Engineering's updating blog that will disseminate helpful information to students adjusting to the impact of COVID-19.

Pass/Fail Deadline May 1 at 11:59 PM

The option to file for Pass/Fail is tonight (5/1) at 11:59 PM. The form to file Pass/Fail will no longer be available after that time. For more information about Pass/Fail options, please see below.

 

Email from Associate Dean Kim Anderson to students on Friday, March 31, 2020:

Dear Students,

Due to the extenuating circumstances that have arisen, the programs in the College of Engineering have agreed to allow Pass/Fail as a grade option for Spring semester, 2020. It’s important to remember that this only applies to this semester and does not apply to future semesters. 

We have provided a website with FAQ’s and a form to be completed (see below for website).  You must send the form to your advisor and have a detailed discussion regarding your request and decision. This discussion is very important as your specific major has their own stipulations and requirements that you must be aware of.  In addition, if you are thinking about pursuing graduate school, medical school or another professional school after your BS degree, these schools may not accept P/F grades.  We want to make sure you make an educated decision and are aware of any issues you may face in the future regarding your decision. 

You must read the FAQ’s in detail before submitting the form.  If you are still interested in the P/F option for a course or courses after reading the FAQ’s, please complete the form, read the Acknowledgements in detail, initial or sign the form and send it to your advisor from your UK email.  If you send it from a personal email account, it will not be accepted. The deadline for submission is May 1 and this is a hard deadline.  Also, once the May 1 deadline passes, you cannot reverse the decision.  

Please feel free to contact me, your advisor or the Director of Undergraduate Studies in your program if you have questions.

I wish you the best as you finish up this semester.

Dr. Anderson

A Word of Encouragement from Dean Rudy Buchheit

Rates for Online Summer Courses

All summer courses will be taught online. The cost for these courses will be $499 per credit hour for both in-state and out-of-state students subject to approval by the Board of Trustees. If you are interested in taking an online summer course, please discuss this with your advisor. 

Engineering Career Development

While the Engineering Career Development team is working remotely, you may request a zoom/phone appointment by visiting https://uky.joinhandshake.com/login and click on the Career Center tile and go to appointments to find all available appointment times and pick one that works best for your schedule. You can choose zoom, e-mail or phone as your appointment medium, and we will go ahead and send you a link to connect via zoom or a phone number to call when we approve your appointment.

We also have a zoom “drop in” room staffed Monday-Friday from 9 am to 4:30 pm at the following link: https://uky.zoom.us/j/573478147

Anyone who enters the room will be placed in a waiting room first and will have to authenticate themselves before being allowed in. 

UK Moving Summer 2020 Courses to Remote Learning Formats; Giving Housing, Dining Credits

By Jay Blanton (4/3)

Underscoring the institution’s commitment to the health and safety of everyone, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto today announced that all instruction for Summer 2020 will move to online or remote learning formats.

In addition, Capilouto said UK next week will begin providing prorated financial credits to students for housing and dining plans that will be applied to student accounts as a credit for spring term charges. Each eligible student who receives this credit adjustment and enrolls in the Fall 2020 semester also will receive $125 in dining flex dollars to be used in that semester.

A similar prorated credit plan will be offered to students for parking permits as well.

With respect to summer classes, Capilouto said the move was necessary to provide time for faculty and support staff to make the transition to online learning and to give students and families appropriate advance notice so they can make plans. In addition, Capilouto said that while details are still being hammered out, other programming — such as orientation sessions and initiatives that help prepare students for college life — also will utilize online or virtual programming this summer.

Moreover, providing prorated financial credits of 36% for housing and dining is a matter of fairness for students who moved out of the residence halls and are not using dining plans since the halls closed on March 27, Capilouto said. And the move will help many families financially as the credits can be applied to outstanding balances for spring, as well as costs for housing, dining, tuition and fees this summer or in the fall.

Capilouto said university officials also hope that by applying these credits to the spring term, “we can provide some level of support that will help ensure students and families can continue their educational progress with us.”

“Our guiding principle has been, and remains, to ensure the health, safety and well-being of everyone in our community and those who are about to proudly join our community,” Capilouto said in making the announcements. “Given the continuing uncertainty about the trajectory of the virus and the unknown length of time social distancing and other measures will need to remain in place, it was necessary to announce this transition and ensure appropriate planning now for the summer.

Details about online and remote learning this summer:

  • Summer courses begin May 11. Before then, faculty and staff will transition some 350 course sections to online or remote formats.
  • UK offers several “bridge” programs to ease the transition for new students and conducts orientation — see blue u. — during much of the month of June and into July. Those programs and sessions will be conducted remotely as well. Specific details about the programming will be announced shortly.
  • Last spring, UK announced a significant expansion of online course offerings. As part of that, UK announced that it would charge one tuition rate for undergraduate students taking a mix of online and in-person classes and a different rate for students taking only online courses, regardless of the student’s residency. Given the emergency and one-time nature of this transition, differential tuition for summer online courses will be suspended. For undergraduate courses this summer, UK will charge $499 per credit hour for tuition and fees. This rate change is subject to UK Board of Trustees approval.

Housing and Dining Credits         

  • Students who moved from UK housing by March 27 will receive a prorated credit for housing and meal plan costs for the rest of the semester – 36 percent of the spring 2020 costs for housing and dining.
  • The 36% non-refundable credit will be posted to the student account beginning April 6.
  • Specific credit amounts will be determined by the individual student’s room type and meal plan selected.
  • The credit will first be applied to any outstanding balance a student may have and can be applied to Summer 2020 or to Fall 2020 for tuition, housing, dining or mandatory fees.
  • If the student does not return for the fall, the student can receive a refund in September.
  • Graduating students who have incurred these costs for housing and dining will receive a refund.
  • Information about the credits will be posted on myUK, which students and guest users can access.
  • Students and families also will be receiving additional information about the housing and dining credits shortly.

Parking Permit Credits

  • Students who purchased parking permits for the 2019-20 academic year or the Spring 2020 semester and no longer need access to campus may return their permit to receive a prorated credit.  
  • Credits will first be applied to any outstanding parking citations associated with the student’s parking account. Any remaining balance will be credited to the student’s university billing account.
  • To be eligible for a credit, students must return their parking permit along with a completed request for student parking permit credit form to UK Transportation Services no later than May 1, 2020. 

“Moving our summer courses online is where we need to be to meet our guiding principle of protecting the health, safety and well-being of everyone in our community,” Capilouto said. “Our commitment now is to ensure a deep, rewarding and robust learning experience for our students this summer during these extraordinary circumstances and to do everything we can to ensure our students are successful and continue their educations as we prepare them for success now, and after college.

Our faculty and staff have risen to every challenge this unprecedented crisis has presented, working in partnership with each other, our students, and with those families and loved ones who support them.”

Last Day to Withdraw

The last day to withdraw from a course has been moved to the last day of classes for the Spring 2020 semester (currently 11:59 pm on May 1, 2020 EDT).

24/7 Technical Assistance

For 24/7 technical assistance, please contact ITS Customer Services at 859-218-HELP (4357) or visit the Technology Help Center here. For assistance with non-urgent matters, email 218help@uky.edu. 

Email from Associate Dean Kim Anderson (3/17/2020)

Dear Students, 

By now, I am sure you saw the email from President Capilouto about the next steps being taken by the university in dealing with COVID-19.

The short version is that campus is being closed to everyone except those staff supporting critical operations, effective starting tomorrow. All faculty and staff are expected to work remotely from home. Even though the staff are working remotely, they are still available to serve you as needed by email, phone or Skype. Staff contact information including your freshman/program advisors can be found here. All staff are forwarding their office phones to home/cell phones so you should be able to reach them during normal business hours. We are still here to assist you!  

Students are also required to work remotely from home. Accessing labs, classrooms or other facilities is not permitted. If you absolutely need to be on campus, you must get permission so please contact the Chair of your department or if you are a freshman, please let me know. We are still planning to continue to conduct classes, and will transition to remote delivery of courses starting next Monday. Your instructors will be in contact with you directly to communicate about what form this will take for each of your classes. Students should make plans to return to their residences away from campus to continue their studies remotely through the end of the semester. More detailed information will be sent by Thursday, March 19 regarding moving out of the residence halls. The University is requiring students to return to their homes unless they receive approval to remain on campus. The form for that process can be accessed here. They are also developing a process for refunds for housing and dining. We will develop and implement that process and communicate the details soon.  

Engineering tutoring will not be available in the Center for Student Success. We will be encouraging our tutors to register on tutormatch.com so you can get assistance remotely. Other tutoring areas across campus are setting up remote tutoring and you should be receiving information about their services soon.    

I know this is a stressful time for all of us but please remember that we are here for you and will assist you any way we can to help you get through the semester. I am available to answer questions that you may have either by phone or email.      

Get some rest this weekend and we look forward to seeing you in the online classes next week.    

Dr. Anderson 

A Message from President Eli Capilouto (3/17/2020)

Members of our Campus Community,

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is an unprecedented public health challenge, one that changes shape and direction by the day, and sometimes by the hour. The trajectory of this virus will continue to climb for a period of time.

By acting aggressively and collectively, we will play an essential role in reducing the percentage of people who will contract the virus and need medical treatment. UK HealthCare is working with other providers to strengthen the state’s capacity to serve and to heal in this troubled space.

We have a responsibility to do everything we can to stem the tide of this disease. It requires us to make significant changes to honor our most important principles: protecting the health, safety, and well-being of everyone in our community and enabling our students, faculty, and staff to succeed.

Based on the advice of health experts, guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and directives from Governor Andy Beshear, we are moving quickly and changing direction to be responsive to the needs of everyone in our community. But we also are moving thoughtfully, understanding that for a large and complex institution such as ours, every action has multiple reactions and ripple effects. This challenge is evolving; so is our response.

We will remain dedicated to the safety and health of our people. I have made that clear to all those who report to me, and they will make it clear to supervisors, managers, deans, department chairs, and all who work throughout our institution. We know you will have questions about the adjustments we describe below. We are working as quickly as we can; I ask for your continued patience during this uncertain and anxious time. We promise to communicate with you clearly and transparently, every step of the way. 

 

Students: instruction and learning, housing and dining refunds

  • Instruction will move to online or other alternative learning formats, effective March 23 through the end of the Spring 2020 semester (previously, we had announced using such formats through April 3).
  • We will be communicating soon with faculty, students, and their families about how we can support them as we transition to online instruction for the remainder of this semester.
  • Students should make plans to return to their residences away from campus to continue their studies remotely through the end of the semester. We will communicate more details for moving out of residence halls by Thursday, March 19.
  • We are requiring students to return to their homes unless they receive approval to remain on campus. The form for that process can be accessed here: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5anzHcU9XYAHP1P.
  • We also are developing a process for refunds for housing and dining. We will develop and implement that process and communicate the details soon.
  • For 24/7 technical assistance, please contact ITS Customer Services at 859-218-HELP (4357) or visit the Technology Help Center at http://techhelpcenter.uky.edu. For assistance with non-urgent matters, email 218help@uky.edu.  

The University of Kentucky is a resilient community; we will work together with compassion, patience, and determination to lift us, and our Commonwealth, out of this anxious time.

Thank you for all you do to strengthen our role as the University of, for, and with Kentucky. As always, please consult with our special website for the latest information about our response to this health challenge: https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/.  

 

Eli Capilouto

President