April 30, 2020: Admitted Student COVID-19 Instruction Model (Summer & Fall 2020)

Dear Admitted Graduate Students,

We are writing to inform you of recent decisions made regarding DU’s instruction model for the summer and fall terms. As you may be aware, the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 caused many institutions of higher education to implement a distance learning model for the spring term, including the University of Denver.

Plans for Summer and Fall Quarter at DU
During the summer term at DU, we typically offer about 55 percent of graduate courses online. Yesterday we announced that while most of our summer courses will be online as originally planned, we will be offering a very limited number of small, highly experiential courses in-person. More information regarding these in-person courses will be shared in the coming weeks.

Our deepest and most profound desire is to reactivate our campus and welcome our community back for a joyful and productive fall session. We know our current students feel the same. At this time, we are excited to announce we plan to reopen with in-person classes when we begin our fall quarter in mid-September, even if it must be modified in some way. A University task force has been convened to make recommendations for how the fall term should be managed including the possibility of either a full return to in-person instruction or a mixture of in-person and online classes. The task force will also make recommendations related to academic start dates, and physical-distancing guidelines in academic, administrative, and residential spaces. This task force has an ambitious timeline and will deliver recommendations to senior leadership by the end of May. We hope to share decisions made as a result of this task force with you in early June.

Many details must be worked out for in-person course delivery. We want to be mindful of those faculty and students who are immunocompromised or have other health issues that would prevent them from fully participating in-person by the fall. Additionally, our plans to return to an on-campus, in-person instruction model are dependent upon guidance from federal, state, and local government and public health officials. As a result, if any modifications are necessary regarding in-person classes, those changes will be communicated no later than July 15. Decisions on DU's instruction model will be based on what is best for our students and the health and well-being of our community.

Virtual Resource Portal
Explore our virtual visit options and relevant webinars in your tailored virtual resource portal. Over the next few weeks, we will be updating this page with new content tailored to your graduate experience. We want to assure you that whether remote or on-campus the academic quality and enterprising spirit of DU will remain of the highest quality.

Kind regards,

Office of Graduate Education
University of Denver
2199 South University Blvd.
Denver, Colorado 80208
(303) 871-2706 | gradinfo@du.edu