Honoring Our Commitments
President Capilouto sent the following message to campus on Friday, April 3, 2020.
Dear Campus Community,
Members of our community were recently brainstorming ideas about how best to support our students during an uncertain and anxious time. Just one idea, now being put into reality:
Officials in our Division of Student and Academic Life – in partnership with Student Government – will be trying to call every one of our 31,000 students at the University of Kentucky.
31,000 calls. 31,000 direct expressions of support and concern for those we teach and serve.
It is yet another example of the comprehensive and compassionate steps this community is taking to forge direct connections with our students.
That is what we do. That is who we are.
Today, we will be announcing several more moves across our campus that reinforce our commitment to the future of our students and our Commonwealth.
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Mark Newman will announce plans by UK HealthCare to construct a 400-bed field hospital to handle the potential surge in patients, who have contracted the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The hospital, which should be ready for operation in two weeks, will be established within the Nutter Field House, the practice facility for our UK football team. It’s a wonderful example of partnership between UK HealthCare and Athletics, led by Mitch Barnhart, working in collaboration with Lexington-area hospitals, the State Health Commissioner and Gov. Andy Beshear.
In recent weeks, we’ve taken a series of significant steps that speak to what we must do as the state’s leading provider of advanced care in the face of a still dynamic and growing crisis. From in-house testing capacity to a drive-through testing clinic, one thing is clear: When and where there is need, we are there.
This morning, we also will be announcing a number of options to directly support students and families.
We will be moving all summer courses to online or remote learning formats.
This move was necessary now to provide adequate time for faculty and support staff to make the transition to online learning and to give students and families appropriate advance notice so they can make plans. Given the emergency and one-time nature of this transition, differential tuition for summer online courses will be suspended. For undergraduate courses this summer, UK will charge $499 per credit hour for tuition and fees. This rate change, subject to UK Board of Trustees approval, will apply to both residents and non-residents.
Students who moved from UK Housing by March 27 will receive a prorated credit for housing and meal plan costs for the rest of the semester.
That’s 36% of the Spring 2020 costs for housing and dining. The 36% non-refundable credit will be posted to the student account beginning on April 6. Specific credit amounts will be determined by the individual student’s room type and meal plan selected. Students who are graduating and qualify will receive refunds. We will take similar steps with respect to student parking permits.
You will be able to read more detail about all of these initiatives later this morning at https://uknow.uky.edu/.
We are working to create the kind of support that will help students and families be in a position to rejoin our community next academic year. Making these moves reinforces the powerful idea that we will be where we need to be to meet our guiding principle – protecting the health, safety and well-being of everyone in our community and of all those we serve.
Our faculty and staff, our clinicians and caregivers, have risen to every challenge this unprecedented crisis has presented. I know that we will continue to do so. That is what we do. That is who we are. Thank you for being that kind of community.
Eli Capilouto President