UNC sets date to return to campus

GREELEY — The University of Northern Colorado in Greeley plans to return to on-campus classes with the fall semester. Summer classes will be online.

Andy Feinstein, president of UNC, told students in a letter on Thursday that the tentative decision had been made to return to campus.

“Our plan is for our students, faculty, and staff to be back on campus and for in-person instruction to resume in time for a traditional start to the academic year in late August,” he said in text underlined in his letter. “Our community of Bears thrives on face-to-face interactions and meaningful relationships that are formed among students, faculty, and staff. These human connections enrich teaching, learning, discovery, and our individual and collective growth, and breathe life into our academic mission.”

“We have proven our resilience and ability to adapt to changing circumstances on short notice. Because of that, I am confident that we have ample time in the next 115 days to make necessary and reasonable accommodations to ensure that we can return to campus while continuing to protect the health and safety of our community,” he said.

Social distancing will likely continue on campus after students return, he said. Testing, temperature checks and contact tracing will be employed as needed.

UNC has been hit hard financially by the coronavirus outbreak, but had been experiencing financial stress even before the recent shutdowns. On April 23, Feinstein told the university board of trustees that top administrators would take 10 percent pay cuts. In February, he announced the elimination of 65 positions to reduce expense.

 
Approximately 4.47 million Americans overall made initial claims in the week ending April 18, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s figures Thursday morning, a drop of 810,000 million from the week prior. More than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past five weeks.

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