Student Experience

Students are encouraged to reach out to their supervisor about the status of their on-campus job.

Advisors are available to help answer visa questions at the University of Florida International Center.

Students will choose sections as followed by normal registration procedures, following their assigned registration times.  It is possible for students to register solely for online courses as long as the courses they need to take have an online option.  The majority of courses in Spring 2021 will have online options.

Most of the Libraries' hours will not match pre-COVID hours.  Please check https://ufl.libcal.com/hours frequently for hours, as the Libraries will monitor demand and adjust hours accordingly."  To see what the current occupancy counts are in each Library location, refer to http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/status/. 

Yes. UF will continue to offer COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff through UF Health Screen, Test & Protect.

Individuals are strongly encouraged to get the annual flu shot, and it is required for health care workers and students who are in a health care environment.

Although the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has long recommended that everyone more than 6 months old get a flu shot annually, this year it is even more strongly recommended by health experts. The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing and by some projections may reach a high enough level in some areas to overwhelm the available health care systems. If a maximum number of individuals get flu shots this year, there should be less demand on the health care systems due to flu and thereby decrease the chances of exceeding the capacity of our health care systems. 

Flu shots will be given to all UF students and employees who want one at multiple locations on campus this spring by the UF Student Health Care Center. Flu shots will be given by appointment only.

UF has a three-tiered approach to enforcing behavioral expectations regarding keeping our campus community healthy and safe: Education, engagement and enforcement.

• Education takes place at all levels of the University and may include informing others of regulations, policies and guidance.
• Engagement reinforces education and provides direction to correct behavior, clarify enforcement mechanisms and end behavior that poses an immediate threat to the health, safety and welfare of community members.
• Enforcement of behavioral expectations to abide by University regulations and policy, state and local law and the instructions of officials can be carried out by any designee of the Vice President of Student Affairs or other appropriate University Official. For more details, please visit the UF policy page for behavioral expectations.

Facilities are adjusting hours of operation as needed.

For Reitz Union hours, please visit: https://www.union.ufl.edu/

For Student Health Care Center Hours, please visit: https://shcc.ufl.edu/

For Newell Hall hours, please visit: https://newell.ufsa.ufl.edu/

For Recreation Sports hours, please visit: https://recsports.ufl.edu/

For library hours, please visit: https://cms.uflib.ufl.edu/

For dining hours, please visit: https://gatordining.com/

To check the status of your local UF/IFAS Extension office, research center or 4-H Camp, please visit https://ifas.ufl.edu/local-updates/.

The Libraries discontinued laptop loans some time ago; however, you can check out an ipad for extended periods of time.  Refer to each Library’s web site (e.g., https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/mslipad) for more details.

Yes, career fairs will have a hybrid option following health and safety guidelines.  For more, visit the Career Connections Center.

Information related to financial aid, including contact information for questions, can be found at the UF Office of Financial Affairs.

All housing account questions can be directed to the Housing Accounts Receivables team at HREUAAccounts@ufsa.ufl.edu.

The Disability Resource Center is working closely with faculty members to support student accommodations whether their class is in-person or online.   

Instructors will determine how their face-to-face sections’ exams will be administered.

UF’s Aid-a-Gator financial assistance program is available for students and employees. Visit the Aid-A-Gator website for more information. If you want to help students and employees with financial need, you can donate to these programs.

If you have a financial hardship and are struggling to purchase food, UF’s Hitchcock Field & Fork Pantry is available for you.

• Primarily Classroom/Traditional:  Face-to-face delivery (0-49% of the direct instruction of the course is delivered using some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both)

• Hybrid:  Course requirements are met through a mix of online activities/assignments and in-class activities/assignments.  (50-79% of the direct instruction of the course is delivered using some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both.)

• Online (80-99%):  Mostly online, but there is a requirement for the student to attend campus or another explicit geographic location for a portion of the course. (80-99% of the direct instruction of the course is delivered using some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both.) 

• Online (100%):  Completely online. If included with a section that is labeled "Primarily Classroom/Traditional," the course will be delivered in "Hy-flex" format where "Primarily Classroom/Traditional" group of students are in person in the classroom, while the online students participate in the live lecture remotely. (100% of the direct instruction of the course is delivered using some form of technology when the student and instructor are separated by time, space, or both.)

Students will be enrolled in sections that are face-to-face and online.  Students in the face-to-face section will come to class in person, while students in the online sections will participate in live lectures remotely. 

Students will be able to move in or return to campus the week of January 3, 2021. For more information, visit: https://www.housing.ufl.edu/stay-all-in/  

The Spring 2021 Schedule of Courses, which will include the delivery of instruction of each section, will be made available to students on Friday, October 30, 2020.

Yes, students will have ample opportunity to participate in co-curricular activities in Spring 2021. The range of opportunities are broad and deep, including student activities and organizations, career success services, health and wellness, and inclusion and multicultural development. Students can engage in a variety of in-person events that are safe, physically distanced, and in accordance with CDC guidelines, along with continued virtual programming so all students can participate. Follow UF Student Life on Instagram and Twitter @UFStudentLife and visit the virtual student union at https://ufsa.ufl.edu/virtual-union/.

Capacity limits will still be in place for UF facilities to promote physical distancing. Hours for facilities can be found on their websites.

Please email reopen@ufl.edu for additional questions not answered here.

Spaces for study and student life activities are available. De-densification will be necessary for safety reasons in libraries, computer labs, dining halls, and other group gathering spaces.

Please visit UF’s Cost of Attendance page to learn more.

Southwest Recreation Center and Lake Wauburg are currently open. For adjusted hours and guidelines, please visit UF Rec Sports.

Although the purposes of these programs will remain the same, there will be necessary modifications made to support our COVID-19 Protection Plan. The Preview program for undergraduate students is being offered virtually.  

Updates on athletics are available on the university athletics pages.

Aademic programming will be designed to accommodate remote instruction for as many students who desire it as possible.

Based on CDC and UF Health guidelines, each College was given the ability to provide the modalities for its courses that best meet the needs of the course, the students, and their faculty.

In accordance with CDC Guidelines and UF Health guidance, all seating in our classrooms will be physically distanced, dramatically reducing class capacities.

Each Academic Advising office will determine its mode of advising in Spring 2021. Most will likely provide a majority of advising sessions remotely. You can find contact information for advising office here: http://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/for-students/remote-academic-advising-college-contacts-at-uf-/.

The University of Florida has a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, which is publicly posted on our website. The purpose of this plan is to facilitate preparedness and actions for responding to a myriad of events that pose a threat to the safety and security of our students, patients, faculty and staff. These threats range from hurricanes to the challenges associated with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Our emergency management plan creates structures within the university, with dictated roles and responsibilities guiding the efforts of individuals in every facet of our large academic and healthcare communities. Leading the university’s emergency management response is a group of senior leaders and staff members representing our health colleges, hospitals, academics, and operational management, among others. Among the group’s primary responsibilities are actions currently taking place at UF:

• Providing information and recommendations during this public health emergency, with the Student Health Care Center director serving as the university’s lead public health official.
• Providing health services and resources, including medical and behavioral health, for UF students and employees. 
• Coordinating operations and programs specific to public health such as mass vaccination clinics and alternate medical treatment sites, as evidenced by the recently opened COVID-19 testing facility in The Villages.
• Facilitating information and education for the university community.

The university also has a more detailed plan that guides its response to infectious disease spread and pandemics. These documents are exempt from public disclosure pursuant to Florida Statute 1004.0962 (Campus emergency response) due to the fact that they contain sensitive information that, if publicly released, could create a security risk for the university’s students, faculty and staff.

The university is committed to transparency regarding its response to and management of campus operations during the COVID-19 outbreak.

No. The university plans to remain open and operational for the entire spring semester.  

UF is a residential university and is working to return to an environment of normalcy to the extent possible. Further, a substantial segment of students has indicated they would like to return to in-person settings.

Campus tours and visits are cancelled. For updates, please visit UF Admissions.

Regardless of course delivery, students are obligated to the terms and conditions for spring once a contract is complete. There is no cancellation period for Spring 2021 housing agreements.

It is imperative that any individuals who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19 contact the Student Health Care Center at (352) 392-1161 to discuss symptoms with a nurse or medical provider before your visit to ensure proper protective measures are taken to prevent further risk of spread to others. Additionally, telehealth visits and phone triage are also available to assist patients with COVID-19 concerns. If you don’t already have a UFHealth MyChart account, you can register for one and activate it immediately by logging onto mychart.shands.org. Download of the Zoom app is required for telehealth visits.

As students and faculty prepare to return to campus for the spring semester, the University of Florida will initiate return-to-campus protocols based on demographic.

• On December 21, all students will be marked “not cleared for campus.” They will then have until Jan. 10 to complete an initial health screening questionnaire for the spring semester. The health screening questionnaire is available at one.ufl.edu.
• After the initial return-to-campus screening, all students will begin to receive a weekly health screening questionnaire and those students determined by UF Health experts to present a high-risk for contracting or transmitting the virus will be included into the routine testing plan, where they will be tested every two weeks beginning the week of Jan. 11.

Groups currently included in the high-risk student population and the routine testing plan include:

• students in face-to-face classes
• students who live in undergraduate residence halls
• active members of UF’s Greek community who reside in or have a meal plan within a Greek residence

Students determined by UF Health experts to present the highest risk for contracting and transmitting the virus — those living in residence halls and/or participating in face-to-face classroom instruction — must complete the health screening questionnaire and schedule a test by Jan. 10 to be cleared for campus.

After the initial return-to-campus testing, UF will transition to the routine testing plan, where high-risk students will be tested every two weeks.

For more information, please visit the Health & Safety Guidlines page. 

You can learn more about isolation and quarantine procedures at UF on the Screen, Test and Protect page. 

https://coronavirus.ufhealth.org/screen-test-protect-2/students/student-quarantine-and-isolation/​

PACE students who are ready to transition from UF Online to the residential campus and face-to-face course offerings will select courses no differently than any other residential student (as described above).  

We plan to continue with the core strategy of targeted testing, but are adding mandatory surveillance testing at the start of the semester, continuing with testing every two weeks, for students living in residence halls and those participating in Greek life in Gainesville or in face-to-face classroom instruction. Adjustments will be made on the basis of needs that arise during the ever-changing pandemic.

Please visit our Spring 2021 page for how mandatory surveillance testing will work for specific groups, what exclusions may apply and consequences for students who do not comply.

Campus health guidelines are available at: https://coronavirus.ufl.edu/resources/health-guidance/. Enforcement of behavioral expectations to abide by University regulations and policy, state and local law and the instructions of officials can be carried out by any designee of the Vice President of Student Affairs or other appropriate University Official. For more details, please visit the UF policy page for behavioral expectations.

UF will strictly adhere to CDC physical distancing guidelines, and mask wearing will be mandatory. Additionally, classrooms will be configured to allow 8 feet of distancing between each student, and many face-to-face class sections will be accompanied by a hyflex section — which streams simultaneously over the internet — to allow for decreased classroom capacity as a result of distancing requirements. Additionally, UF Health will continue its vigorous contact tracing program in partnership with the Department of Health. UF Health’s Screen, Test, & Protect initiative has also developed new tools to monitor classrooms to minimize in-class transmission. Surveillance testing will be scaled up with mandatory regularly scheduled testing of students and others at high risk of COVID-19 infection. Additionally, wastewater testing is in full swing and will enhance the overall monitor and control efforts.

Yes. Support for students needing to quarantine/isolate will continue through spring semester.

Please see UF Health’s Screen, Test, Protect website for an updated matrix of the return-to-campus process.

UF’s custodial team is conducting their usual, daily, disinfecting cleaning in areas such as public restrooms along with doing a deeper disinfectant cleaning in all common/lobby spaces. They are increasing the daily wiping down of high touch surfaces in all residence halls to include:

• Doors doorknobs, handrails, elevator push buttons
• Desks, tables, chairs, arm rest of chairs
• Counters, offices, phones, keyboards, laptop keypads in common spaces
• Bathroom fixtures, toilets, sinks
• Water fountain push buttons

Areas are being cleaned using microfiber cleaning cloths which are frequently changed and being disinfected using Diversey Oxivir TB.

Supervisors are monitoring desk area locations to ensure hand sanitizer bottles are kept replenished at the desk and not allowed to run low.

Staff are focusing on after-hours cleaning for areas that are visibly soiled and immediately cleaning those locations.

As normal if students have a cleaning concern, they can submit an iService ticket.

Throughout campus, in addition to their normal operations, custodial staff have increased disinfecting activities in all campus buildings they serve. Special attention is being given to bathrooms, frequently touched surfaces and common areas.