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Blazer Parents and Family,

We are working diligently to make sure that when your Blazer returns to campus, they will be in a safe, healthy environment. Afterall, they are a part of our UAB family.

University and System leadership are in constant contact with infectious disease experts as we plan for the return. We will provide regular updates and greater detail about plans leading up to the fall semester.

Your students are being regularly informed with emails from UAB, including Greenmail every Wednesday. You, too, are welcome to subscribe to this student e-newsletter by signing up here. In addition, all university-wide communication will also be forwarded to you via the UAB Family Hub. You can also visit uab.edu/coronavirus and uab.edu/reentry, both of which have student-specific sections.

So far, we have hosted two virtual student town hall meetings (one for returning undergraduates and another for incoming students) with another taking place for graduate students on July 15. Here, you can see video from a recent town hall and read answers to student follow up questions.

Below are key COVID-19 safety strategies for your students for the fall (detailed plans will be communicated):

• Students, faculty and staff will complete a COVID-19 safety training prior to reentry
• Masks/face coverings and social distancing will be required and enforced
• COVID-19 testing will be used strategically, informed by infectious disease experts
• Use of UAB-developed symptom monitoring “health check” and exposure notification technology
• Educational and instructional safety signage posted throughout campus
• Extensive cleaning and disinfecting practices in place
• Residence halls and other buildings will take special precautions
• We will not return to in-person fall semester instruction after Thanksgiving Break (we plan to resume in-person classes for the spring semester in January 2021)
• In the interest of safety, summer commencement will be held virtually (graduates who wish to walk in a future in-person ceremony will have the opportunity to do so)
• Guidance, health tips and updates will be communicated regularly

In addition, our hybrid instruction model will safely manage class sizes starting in the fall semester to promote social distancing. In most classes, students will rotate days in and out of the classroom with a combination of in-person and remote learning. Faculty (who will address class format in their syllabi) will provide in-person instruction to roughly 30-50 percent of students registered in a class while a camera system feeds real-time video to the remainder of the class remotely. The recording will also be available in Canvas for later viewing. Equipment has been secured to support the hybrid model and will be installed in time for the fall semester.

Again, please check your UAB Family Hub email regularly and encourage your student to read Greenmail every Wednesday for important updates.

We remain #UABUnited,

John Jones, III, PhD

Vice President for Student Affairs

University of Alabama at Birmingham