Our campus health teams and executive leadership have been continuously following the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), with a focus on safeguarding the well-being of our students, staff, faculty and community. 

There are no confirmed cases at UNT or in Denton County at this time, but we have seen reported cases in Collin, Dallas and Tarrant counties over the past week. As a result, we are taking the following steps to protect our campus community:

• UNT will cancel all in-person classes at all locations for the week of March 16-22, as the university transitions to online or alternative instructional delivery.
• Online classes and field experiences will continue as normal the week of March 16-22.
• All instruction will resume on Monday, March 23. 
• By March 19, you will learn details about your classes via your UNT email. We will be communicating with you further in the interim. 
• During the week of March 16-22, students are encouraged to stay off campus, if possible. For students who are currently on campus or for those who need to return, residence halls and dining facilities will be open. 
• Faculty and staff will continue working on campus. All other business services will be available. Student workers should check with their supervisors regarding work schedules.

In addition, we are taking these precautions involving travel and events: 

• We are suspending university-sponsored international travel until further notice.
• Only domestic travel necessary for essential business continuity will be supported until further notice. Guidelines for essential business continuity travel will be established by the Vice Presidents of each area. 
• Faculty, staff or students returning from countries with travel restrictions or visiting our campus from a country with travel restrictions will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days, with monitoring provided by our Student Health and Wellness Center.
• We ask all employees and students returning from personal international travel or highly impacted areas domestically to please report their trip to international risk control at 940-369-6154 for further guidance.
• Beginning March 23, events with more than 250 people that don't affect business continuity will be canceled or postponed.

As you make decisions about returning to campus, please consider the CDC's criteria for people considered to be at higher risk, including older adults and people with chronic medical conditions. If you or a member of your household falls into one of the high-risk groups as identified by the CDC, such that you may be advised by a health authority not to come to work, please let Human Resources know at 940-565-2281 or AskHR@untsystem.edu.

As we move to implement these changes quickly, we understand that we will face a number of challenges, and we are grateful and appreciative of your cooperation and support. Please watch your email for regular updates and visit healthalerts.unt.edu for information regarding UNT's response and preparedness. Thank you for pulling together to keep our campus safe and to support our students.

Sincerely,
Neal Smatresk
President