Dear UNT faculty and staff,
As we move closer to the fall semester, our faculty and staff have worked tirelessly to create a variety of course options to provide the best possible academic experience for our students while helping keep our community safe during this challenging time. Last week, we finalized the Fall 2020 course offerings and shared that information with our students Friday. We are encouraging students to review their class schedule and adjust it as needed to create a schedule that meets their needs.
We know that students want to have options - some of them want to get back to campus learning as soon as possible while others prefer to learn remotely. In an effort to offer options that work for a majority, we have leveraged a mix of in-person, partially in-person, and online/remote course deliveries that offer the quality and rigor expected from UNT. This has resulted in 58% of our classes being in-person or having in-person components.
As we move through the fall, UNT will remain flexible and continue to work with our faculty, staff and students as needed. We understand that it will be important for our community to be agile as we strive to keep you safe and healthy.
Here are some important updates that will help all of us prepare for the first day of class on Aug. 24:
- Please advise students to review class information using MyUNT. Details for each course section can be found in Search of Classes through MyUNT by simply clicking on that section. There, students will find tabs for details, meeting information and section notes. This is where students will see specific information on how a course will be taught.
- We have added new modes of delivery, including courses that include a portion of the class meeting in-person, labeled as partial remote and partially online. Please see the Registrar's site for more information about course mode of delivery definitions.
- We have identified additional classroom space for courses so we may teach more students face-to-face. To safely accommodate classes, we will be engaging in social distancing, which will limit the number of students in each classroom space. These steps, among many others, will help support the health of our Mean Green Family.
- Students will not be required to return to campus for face-to-face classes after the Thanksgiving holiday. The end of the semester and final exams will be conducted remotely as originally scheduled.
If students need assistance building a Fall 2020 schedule that works best for them, please have them reach out to their undergraduate academic advisor or graduate departmental advisor.
We anticipate the fall will pose a number of challenges as conditions evolve across our state and nation, and we will continue working to mitigate those challenges as best we can to help our students encounter a rich UNT experience while working to help keep our community safe. We also anticipate that the spring semester will proceed normally, and we will communicate any course delivery updates related to Spring 2021 as we know more.
We recognize making changes this close to the start of the fall semester may make planning difficult, but please know that we remain committed to providing the highest quality instruction and helping keep our students on track to graduate. Thank you for all of your efforts in helping to make these offerings possible for our students and committing to keeping our university successful in its mission.
I am looking forward to seeing more of our students, faculty and staff on campus this fall. We will get through these challenges together and emerge stronger.
UNT proud,
Neal Smatresk
UNT President