Dear Members of the Hawkeye Family, 

The fall semester and a new academic year begins very soon. We are all feeling the excitement and anticipation of coming back to our classrooms, offices, labs, and studios. 

Along with that excitement comes the recognition that the campus population will increase significantly with the return of our students. The UI has made excellent strides in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus over the past two years and we will remain vigilant this fall.  

As we begin the academic year, we will continue our past practices of:

• Providing face masks (including KN95 masks) and hand sanitizer at health stations all across campus
• Continuing the use of enhanced air filtration in our buildings and classrooms with capable systems
• Ensuring easy access to vaccines and boosters
• Testing of wastewater from the residence halls
• Welcoming the use of face masks on campus

In addition, we will make sure that antiviral medication such as Paxlovid is readily available for those who are prescribed the medication.

It is important that you stay home if you are ill or contagious with COVID-19 or any other illness. Please use your department’s standard process for reporting an illness and taking sick leave, and University of Iowa Health Care employees who test positive for COVID should continue to contact the University Employee Health Clinic (UEHC) at 319-356-3631. By following the latest instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you will help keep our Hawkeye community as healthy as possible.

Our campus self-reporting tool has been discontinued following the increase of at-home testing and suspension of contact tracing. However, please know that we will continue to monitor local and national developments and rely on guidance from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa; the Iowa and Johnson County departments of public health (IDPH, JCPH); the Big Ten Conference; and the CDC.

Our coronavirus website will remain active at coronavirus.uiowa.edu, and we encourage you to continue to consult it. If there are significant updates to the COVID situation, we will communicate with you immediately.

Robust enrollments for this fall tell us that students are eager for an Iowa education, and we thank you for all you have done and will continue to do in the coming year to make the Hawkeye experience inspiring for all.

Barbara J. Wilson
President                 

Kevin Kregel
Executive vice president and provost