Dear Colleagues,

Earlier this morning, Provost Ann E. Cudd shared with students and faculty on the Pittsburgh campus plans to offer flexibility by allowing remote access to courses for the first two weeks of the fall term. Starting Monday, September 13, the remote access will no longer be available, and all classes will be in-person.

As Provost Cudd noted in her message, this transitional step is in response to the recent news about the transmissibility of the delta variant, which has caused hesitancy among members of our community about entering the classroom. Taking this step also provides us with additional time to develop a more complete picture of vaccination status and the virus in our community and allows us to determine whether any revisions are necessary to our health rules.

Going into the summer, our plans included a gradual transition of more staff members regularly coming to campus—in many cases, taking advantage of new flexible work arrangements. While we expected this transition to be completed by the end of August, in light of the changes and uncertainty highlighted in Provost Cudd’s message, we are encouraging department heads and supervisors to offer ongoing flexibility through the first two weeks of the term, and to work toward completing the transition back to campus by mid-September.

We will also be sharing this update with all Pittsburgh staff members later this morning.

Throughout the term, we will continue to post updates and information online at coronavirus.pitt.edu. Thank you for your continued dedication to our University community.

Regards,

David N. DeJong

Senior Vice Chancellor for Business and Operations