Dear Students:

I look forward to welcoming you to the University of Houston campus when fall classes begin. There is much work and preparation occurring to make sure you have a great year as a UH Cougar. There is no doubt that you have concerns about returning to face-to-face classroom instruction. As you know, the current public health conditions in the Greater Houston area now require that we reassess how we begin our semester instructional operations to respond to these new challenges.

So I want to explain the important changes that are being made to provide your faculty instructors with the flexibility to address classroom density concerns while maintaining face-to-face instruction for all students currently registered in face-to-face or hybrid classes.

When the University made the decision earlier this year to return to full in-person operations, that decision was made in the light of full access to vaccination and testing, along with rapidly declining COVID-19 infection rates. However, given the current public health conditions in the Greater Houston area, we have reassessed our semester opening instructional operations in order to respond to these new challenges. Recognizing the limited options available to the University, I want you to know that faculty instructors will have the option to modify their current face-to-face classes in such a way as to preserve face-to-face learning options for you while functionally reducing in-person class size for the first two weeks of the semester. We will continue to monitor the health conditions and adjust instructional operations according to those conditions.

If your faculty instructor is comfortable with the current density in your classroom, your instructor may choose to continue with typical face-to-face delivery during regular class days and times currently listed on the course schedule. However, if there is concern about class density, your instructor may implement class attendance policies that result in students attending in person classes on alternating class days. If your instructor does modify attendance polices to reduce class density, the class content and materials covered during in person class sessions will be easily available to those students not present in the face-to-face classroom.

Please be assured that your current class schedule will not change. Your faculty instructors will notify you if they are making face-to-face attendance modifications to reduce classroom density before the first day of class. You can also expect each of your professors to provide a class syllabus with information on current policies, resources, and expectations for you as students in each of your classes.

Please contact your faculty instructors if you have questions about modifications they may decide to make for your classes. We are also preparing an FAQ for students which will be accessible soon on the Office of the Provost website. Any additional questions you may have can be sent to fallclasses@uh.edu. 

I look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Paula Myrick Short
Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UH System
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, UH
Distinguished Professor of Education
provost@uh.edu | 832.842.0550

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