The newsletter for the WKU community
March 11, 2020
President's Message: COVID-19 Update
WKU Community,

As the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly evolves, WKU continues to monitor aggressively the situation as it unfolds. We have for weeks been holding extensive internal discussions and developing a wide range of contingency plans to make preparations that best protect our WKU Community and also the broader communities in which we live. It is now necessary to activate a portion of those plans. Although no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed on or immediately surrounding our campuses, the measures we announce today concerning changes in course delivery, events, travel, and telecommuting demonstrate our commitment to and care for our WKU Family and beyond. Additionally, we want everyone in our broader communities to think about how they practice social distancing and take other precautions to create the best opportunity to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 throughout our communities and health systems.

The WKU COVID-19 Taskforce will continue meeting daily, monitoring the health crisis as it evolves. We will share updates and any further alterations to campus operations. Expect more detailed communication from divisional leaders with further guidance.

Additionally, we created wku.edu/covid19 to serve as a repository of important information related to our response to the pandemic. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the site and check back often to stay best informed.
Highlights of President Caboni's message this afternoon about WKU's response to COVID-19:

Spring Break and Course Delivery: Spring Break for WKU students is being extended through Sunday, March 22. Students are encouraged to remain at home, but residence halls will still open as planned this Sunday, March 15, at noon for those students who need to return to campus. Beginning Monday, March 23, WKU will transition face-to-face classroom delivery to an alternate delivery format through Sunday, April 5.

Events: If you are planning any in-person, non-athletic event with more than 50 attendees between Monday, March 16, and Sunday, April 5, on any of our campuses, you must postpone, cancel, or virtualize the event.

Travel: Effective Monday, March 16, WKU is suspending all but mission-critical, University-funded travel, both international and domestic.

Telecommuting: Effective immediately, all supervisors should provide maximum flexibility to their employees to work remotely to promote social distancing.

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