Healthy Restart FAQs Answered Sept. 22 for UK Faculty, Staff and Students

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 22, 2020) — With University of Kentucky now offering in-session classes again, the university continues to field questions related to specific elements of the campus restart plan. Listed below are answers to some of the questions most commonly asked by university faculty and staff.

Q: What is changing with UK's matching retirement plan? 

A: UK will now provide a 100% match to your retirement savings. So, you will continue to contribute 5% of your salary, and UK will contribute an equal amount.

Q: Will I still make a 5% mandatory contribution to retirement?

A: Yes, you will continue to make your employee contribution. Only the UK match has changed.

Q: Why is this change happening?

A: The COVID-19 pandemic has created financial challenges for the university. By temporarily changing the amount UK matches for retirement savings, we can continue to provide a retirement match while also protecting our employees from further cuts, including job losses.

Phase I and II testing of students by Wild Health ended Aug. 30. As of Sept. 21, UK is reporting 499 current active cases and 1,146 recovered cases among students. As of Sept. 18, 30,813 tests have been conducted with students, including 1,245 positive tests and 29,557 negative tests. For information on testing results, visit: www.uky.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-data-dashboard.

For more information related to University of Kentucky's COVID-19 response and restart plan, visit www.uky.edu/coronavirus/, including more FAQs at www.uky.edu/coronavirus/employees/employee-faqs.

Each day UK will be providing some of the most frequently asked questions from students, faculty and staff and answering them as we start the new semester. If you have questions you would like to see answered, please email coronavirus@uky.edu. We will continue to answer those on an individual basis, but may also include them in UKNow. Thanks and stay safe and healthy.