Undergraduate students: 14-day Stay in Place order

This afternoon, the University announced that a preventative 14-day stay-in-place order for U-M undergraduate students was issued, requiring them to remain in their current designated residences. The University took additional steps to ensure campus safety and provide options for faculty and students:

  • For undergraduate students, all classes that are substantially enhanced by in-person instruction due to the nature of the instruction, space or equipment needs will continue to be taught in person. Most other undergraduate classes will be taught fully remotely.
  • Students may choose to return to their permanent homes depending on comfort levels and individual circumstances, but must follow a University exit protocol to lower the risk that they might carry disease home with them. The protocols (to be provided in the coming days) will include University-provided COVID-19 testing. Students who live in Michigan Housing and follow the exit protocol will receive a prorated refund. 

Here are the details of the order from the Washtenaw County Health Department and the announcement from the University.

Update 10/21/20: Because instructors may choose at this time to change the modality of their courses to fully remote, they should notify students by noon on Wednesday, October 21, about the status of the class, regardless if there is a change or not. If you do not hear by then, reach out to them. 

Please note, our current course modalities within Engineering were designed with flexibility for this type of potential situation in mind. In particular our lab and design courses are substantially enhanced by in-person instruction. Additionally, the protocols in place within classrooms – including room capacity, social distancing, PPE and cleaning procedures – were designed to minimize risk. As a result, the risk of classroom transmission remains low, and we have no known cases of in-class transmission within Engineering.

The University has released new resources about the order on this page, including a U-M Q&A. It has also posted information about a Covid exit plan for students who choose to go home early because of the order.