“The Board of Trustees has approved moving the first day of instruction for the fall semester from August 24 to August 31 to provide more time for the campus to prepare for the return of students. This will not affect faculty appointments.”
You get the sense UF is getting ready for (a phase) reopening in the fall.
what is a phased reopening in the fall actually mean?
@jhmoney No idea, we will not know most of the details until July 15th.
If I had to guess, UF will open on 8/31, with improved testing and tracing. They will expect some students to get sick, and will have plans in place to deal with it. Expect UF to be busy expanding it’s infirmary. This is how UF handled the Spanish Flu.
The real risk are not for the, young, healthy students, but those with underlining health issues or the older faculty (or students returning home on breaks).
I expect UF is working overtime on creating policies around these issues.
@Gator88NE so you think freshmen will be in the dorms then ?
@jhmoney I understood the phased reopening to be how they bring faculty, staff and students back to campus at the end of summer, before the August 31st start date. They added the extra week so that they can bring everyone back in waves to allow for comprehensive testing, rather than everyone returning the same week.
It appears that they are putting the plan in place to have everyone on campus in hopes that they can decide to do that. But, the ultimate decision will be made in a couple of months based on the data and other considerations.
Faculty and Staff have to report back to campus on July 1’st. They have to be tested before that date.
Exceptions will be made, on a case by case basis.
UF is prepping to open on 8/31.
UF has to open. Lets look at UF’s 2019-2020 Operating budget (General and Education; this doesn’t include items like the hospital, research funding, etc, ).
Total Revenue (all sources): $ 834,269,012
Total Revenue from Tuition: $ 337,415,000
Total Operating Expenditures: 806,882,430
Salaries and Benefits $ 688,743,860
Without students, paying tuition, housing, food services, etc, UF can’t make payroll. The state is going to have it’s own budget issues, hence UF can’t expect a bailout.
It’s opening on 8/31.
You see that tweet
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200514/ufrsquos-fuchs-students-likely-to-return-for-fall-semester
@Gator88NE I don’t think that UF will make the decision based on fiscal concerns. Fuchs has said that there would be massive furloughs if classes are not on campus in the Fall. There would certainly be a budget issue, but they would not keep paying everyone on the current payroll. They would be forced to do what every other business is doing to limit the budget shortfall.
I believe that they will decide to have on classes on campus in the Fall, but I don’t believe that they will decide to do so because of the finances.
I also can’t see how they believe that they can contain and control this virus on campus. I don’t believe that the testing and contact tracing plan is practical or will be effective.
@fl1234 I apologize if I made it sound like UF is only considering the finances. It’s looking at a lot of factors, but finances is one of them (as well as student/faculty/employee health, UF’s contingency plans, etc.).
I think UF is uniquely able to deal with this type of crisis. It’s a health science/welfare powerhouse. It can do all of the testing/tracing in-house.
A lot will also depend on students. Wearing mask, social distancing, etc.
It’s going to be a tough semester, for all involved. However, I know my son would gladly accept the challenge, if it gets him away from his parents. I think he’s already had enough of us. 
@Gator88NE It did come across to me as you believed the finances would drive the decision.
My '22 Gator will be in Gainesville either way and I am not concerned about his health/safety. Even if they get the virus, the vast majority will be ok. The bigger concern to me is bringing home to family.
I noticed another smaller college was taking a different approach by starting earlier so that they could be done by Thanksgiving Break and not have to have the students travel home and back an extra time. Made some sense.
My '24 Gator is a different story. I guess if the dorms are open, he will be there. Not sure if they would open dorms if classes are not on campus, probably not.
I just don’t see how they can test and trace enough to mitigate outbreaks. These students come in close contact to a hundred or more people a day. How do you trace all of that? And as you said, it is up the students to make good judgements and decisions. That won’t happen.
Students are going to get sick, it’s a question of minimizing the outbreaks.
Here’s a link to some steps OU will be making, I expect UF will make similar plans.
If I had a student that was “at risk”, I would take additional steps. They would not live on campus, and most classes they picked (if a Freshman/Sophomore) would be online or partially online.
If I had a student who wasn’t “at risk”, I would let them live in the dorm.
Everyone has to decide how much risk they find acceptable.
STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT KENT FUCHS REGARDING FLORIDA BOARD OF GOVERNORS’ ANNOUNCEMENT OF FALL REOPENING
“I embrace yesterday’s announcement from the Board of Governors that the University of Florida and the rest of the State University System will reopen in the fall. The blueprint and timeline from Board of Governors’ chair Syd Kitson and State University System Chancellor Marshall Criser III fit perfectly with the work happening at the University of Florida, where the process of returning our employees to the workplace is already underway.
Plans for UF still up in air
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200523/plans-for-uf-still-up-in-air
UF releases plan for reopening
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20200601/uf-releases-plan-for-reopening
http://www.ufl.edu/media/wwwufledu/health-updates/Plan_draft.pdf
Several interesting items in the plan, many are what we predicted (expanded use of online classes, arrange that students don’t have to return to campus after Thanksgiving break, etc.)