Statement on COVID-19
All University faculty, staff, and students are expected to maintain a commitment to the health and safety of our campus community. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, specific health and safety standards are in place to minimize exposure and community spread on campus. In the interest of your health and safety and that of all UA students, faculty and staff, the University reserves the right to change the mode of instruction or schedule of instruction at any time, based upon prevailing public health and other guidance. While the method of delivery may change, educational instruction and opportunities will continue. As such, the University will not provide a refund of tuition, in whole or in-part, based on any such changes. Detailed information on changes in format or schedule can be found at studentaccounts.ua.edu and financialaid.ua.edu.
Getting vaccinated is the best way to Protect Our Herd. COVID-19 vaccines are being administered by the University Medical Center, the Student Health Center and various businesses and healthcare providers.
Instructional Guidelines
The University of Alabama offers students a return to normal course delivery methods.
Our goals are always for every student to succeed, and to maintain the highest level of quality teaching, while safeguarding the health and safety of all UA faculty, staff, and students. We also want to ensure that the faculty are prepared – and have the latest information and resources – to play their part in the University meeting these goals.
- All members of the campus community are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated.
- Get tested if you have COVID symptoms.
- Comply with UA guidance regarding the use of face masks.
- Maintain social distancing when possible.
- Encourage your students to get vaccinated.
Be Prepared for Teaching Flexibility
- If you haven’t already done so, please consider uploading all course materials to Blackboard Learn, so students can access them in the event they must quarantine.
- Please consider recording your lectures using Panopto (or similar technology) to reduce the need for simulcasts and maintain the highest levels of face-to-face instruction. The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) has created Panopto tutorials, which can be found at https://cit.ua.edu/technologies/panopto/. You can also reach out to CIT for assistance.
- If your course syllabus has requirements for attendance and makeup assignments, please be flexible when students provide legitimate documentation of illness or quarantine orders.
- Remember all courses must be delivered via the delivery mode specified during enrollment, and hold to that delivery method for the duration of the semester, unless a change is approved by your Dean and the Provost.
- If you contract mild or asymptomatic COVID and must quarantine, contact your Department Chair and Dean as soon as possible. If you’re not well enough to continue teaching, you should cancel the class. Otherwise, if you’re well enough to continue teaching via Zoom, please consider doing so at the regularly scheduled time of your class(es) and request permission from your Dean and the Provost to temporarily switch your class to a different mode of instruction. In any case, please keep your department chair informed of your plans and provide relevant class materials through Blackboard Learn until you can return to face-to-face instruction.
As a reminder, while you’re encouraged to urge students to be vaccinated, you may not ask students about their vaccination status, insist that students get the vaccine, ask for proof of vaccination, or require students to be vaccinated in order to attend class or participate in campus events or activities. Due to health care privacy laws and regulations, UA may not disclose to you the vaccine status of students in your classes.
Programs with clinical and/or experiential components in which students are placed at partner sites that require proof of vaccination are working with students to gather the necessary information. Students who do not provide such information have been informed that the number of clinical sites that do not require vaccination is small and that we cannot guarantee placement, which may affect their ability to make progress and graduate on time.
For additional information and any future updates, please see https://healthinfo.ua.edu/facultystaff/.
Sincere thanks for all your extraordinary efforts to keep our campus safe and help our students succeed.