How Campus Will Look This Fall
We're excited about the fall semester, and we hope you are too! To make it as safe as possible, we're making some changes in how classes, residence halls and campus services operate.
- Many classes this fall will be offered with a new hybrid format that maximizes face-to-face instruction while maintaining social distancing. Hybrid classes will include face-to-face and online learning, with no more than half of the students meeting in person at a given time. Students with health concerns may request accommodations to complete their coursework online.
- Lab, studio and other classes that involve hands-on learning or rely on student-teacher interaction will meet face to face. However, faculty members will be prepared to move online should the need arise.
- As in the past, hundreds of classes will be available fully online.
- In-person classes will be smaller to facilitate social distancing. In most cases, face-to-face sessions will involve fewer than 25 students.
- Efforts are being made to maximize face-to-face instruction for freshmen so they can get to know their professors.
- UWM will follow its original academic calendar, with classes starting Sept. 2.
- Face masks are required in campus buildings and outside areas where 6 feet of distance between individuals can't be maintained. Students should bring their own mask to campus.
- Classrooms will be professionally cleaned at least once per day. They'll also be stocked with hand sanitizer and disinfectants that students and instructors can use to clean their seats and work areas.
- There will be floor markings or tape in many buildings to indicate where to line up, enter and exit in order to maintain social distance.
- Students, including freshmen, are not required to live on campus this year. However, residence halls provide maximum flexibility, with prorated refunds guaranteed should public health conditions require a return to fully remote learning.
- Single and double rooms will be available in UWM residence halls. All UWM residence halls are suite-style, with two or three bedrooms connected to a bathroom. UWM does not have group showers or large communal restrooms like some other universities.
- As in the past, students will be able to request their roommates.
- Dining will be available in some residence halls and the UWM Student Union. Meals will be ordered and paid for using a cellphone or other mobile device. Service will be contactless.
- University Recreation and other services will be open, although capacity may be limited to facilitate social distancing.
- Student organizations will meet on campus, although large gatherings will be discouraged.
- Norris Health Center will provide telehealth and in-person services, including coronavirus testing for students with COVID-19 symptoms.
- Students who test positive for COVID-19 should not come to campus. Those living in residence halls will be asked to return to their permanent homes to recover. Limited isolation housing will be available for students who can't return to or do not have permanent residences.
FAQs
Campus Updates
Update on format of fall classes
July 10, 2020
We are writing today to provide an update on our course schedule and planning for the fall semester. Because of the dynamic, evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the thousands of courses at UWM, this work is complex. We… Read More
Faculty-led study abroad programs canceled
July 2, 2020
Given ongoing public health advisories against international travel, UWM has decided to cancel all faculty-led study abroad and exchange programs for the Fall 2020 semester. Individual students may apply for an exemption through UWM’s International Travel Policy by filling out a Travel… Read More
Residence halls will be open
June 24, 2020
Residence halls will be open this fall, operating in many ways as they always have but with several modifications to increase safety. Housing assignments will be made largely as they have in the past, with single and double rooms. Room… Read More