UWM Plans for In-person Classes in the Fall

Chancellor Mark Mone is hopeful for an almost fully operational in-person Fall 2021 semester for the UW-Milwaukee campus with a projection for in person attendance estimated to be 77%. 

On Tuesday, March 9, Mone hosted the 5^th virtual faculty and staff town hall since the pandemic began where he and other board members outlined a plan for the upcoming fall semester including operations, COVID-19 vaccination clinics, testing, budget plans, and more. 

Last year, the UWM campus lost millions of dollars but through reduced expenses and the federal CARES funding, the campus was able to overcome those losses. For the coming years, Robin Van Harpen, chief financial/business officer, said the campus is projected to lose $20 to 25 million dollars due to a low occupancy in the residence halls, auxiliary functions, and tuition. 

However, the campus is set to receive a second round of federal funding through HURF in the amount of about $18 million dollars, which will allow the campus to cut down on net losses to somewhere between 5 and 10 million dollars, according to Van Harpen. 

“That’s really good for our campus and moving forward,” Van Harpen said.

As the 2021 fall semester rolls in, on-campus life is expected to be almost fully operational with resident halls at high occupancy and dining services back to normal. The dorm room assignments will be posted later in the summer and safety measures will still be in place with quarantine rooms available, according to Chief Student Affairs Officer Kelly Haag.

Within the virtual town hall the importance of face-to-face operations was overt. Mone expressed safety as the number one priority for all students and staff for a hopeful return to in-person next fall as there has been a significant loss of student engagement and development, social togetherness, and financial stability. 

Chancellor Mone said there is an optimistic future ahead for full operations beyond funding as just last week the UW-Milwaukee campus has become a vaccination site. The soft launch of the COVID-19 vaccination has so far been successful with a completion of around 400 vaccinations to primarily faculty and staff. 

This week the campus will have around 1,100 faculty and staff vaccinated and as the vaccination becomes more available, Chancellor Mone strongly encourages everyone to get the vaccination as invitations to do so are sent out. 1,800 invitations have been sent out as of this week. 

“As many vaccines we get, were going to get them into people’s arms,” Chancellor Mone said. 

According to Chancellor Mone, all faculty and staff were sent an interest form for eligibility for the vaccination. The form will allow people who are not urgently eligible for the vaccination to become eligible when slots open-up. 

“We don’t want any vaccinations to get left behind,” Chancellor Mone said.

 Provost and Vice Chancellor Johannes Britz said that the plans for the fall 2021 semester will continue to operate with safety measures in place, but with the vaccination he said, “There is hope.” 

As fall 2021 semester approaches, the recommended safety precautions will still be enforced with standard guidelines of wearing a mask, social distancing, and maintaining sanitary environments. Also, if necessary, there will continue to be testing sites on campus, according to Britz.

The planning for the fall 2021 semester began in December as the Scenario Planning Work Group created a flexible schedule as they needed to be ready to advantage of public health during 2021, according to the Dean of the college of Letters & Science, Scott Gronert.

Gronert said that the 77% in-person return is getting closer to the new normal given that students and instructors have embraced a virtual platform. 

In May of this year, the Scenario Planning Work Group will coordinate with the Emergency Operation Center to make final decisions on safety measures for the fall, according to Gronert. 

Chancellor Mone closes the Townhall excited for the future but prepared for the hurdles that will come from trying to get everyone vaccinated and ready to come back to campus. 

Also, he always encourages everyone to visit the uwm.edu/coronavirus website to answer any questions surrounding campus updates pertaining to the COVID-19 virus.