February 24, 2021
Looking forward to an in-person fall semester
Dear K-State Community:
We have encouraging news in our yearlong battle with COVID-19. Thanks to everyone doing their part and following the guidelines, we are seeing dramatic reductions in the number of new cases and hospitalizations. Coupled with growing access to effective vaccines, we have a more hopeful future.
We have long anticipated the day when the K-State family could gather again in person. As the pandemic continues to improve, we are planning a fall semester that will be more normal than our 2020-2021 academic year. As with all things COVID-19 related, these plans depend on continued improvement in suppressing the spread of the virus.
If we continue on this positive trajectory, beginning Aug. 1, we plan to move to a phaseout of the university's reopening plan. This means that the fall 2021 semester will be largely in person, and include in-person classes, research, events and activities. COVID-19 capacities on classrooms and learning spaces will be lifted for the fall semester.
Summer 2021 classes will continue the remote, hybrid and in-person model that we have adapted for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. And we all need to continue to wear masks, practice physical distancing until these guidelines are relaxed. We also encourage getting vaccinated once you have the opportunity.
This week we are scheduled to receive our first vaccine doses at Lafene Health Center as high contact workers in higher education are now allowed in Phase 2 of the Riley County protocol. The team at Lafene will be contacting eligible individuals based on our established criteria.
We will be releasing more details in the coming weeks as we make adjustments and plan for a new academic year. We wanted to reassure all K-Staters that we are looking ahead so that students, faculty and staff could begin to make plans for an in-person fall semester.
We continue to monitor COVID-19 data and will share numbers on our university dashboard. We will need to be flexible and make adjustments in the coming months. We remain committed to keeping every Wildcat a Wellcat!
We know this past year has not been easy. Please know that we appreciate all the sacrifices you have made to continue learning, teaching and researching during this difficult time. Thank you. I'm truly grateful for the collegiality and support our family has shown to one another through this unprecedented crisis.
I look forward to sharing more information with all of you in the near future.
Richard B. Myers
President