Fall 2020 Semester Clarification 

May 13, 2020 @ 8:24 a.m.

Dear CU Denver Community,

I am writing with a clarification to the email you received yesterday morning from the executives of AHEC, CCD, MSU Denver and CU Denver about the fall 2020 semester. I’d first like to extend my apologies for any confusion it may have caused.

As I noted in an April 24 communication, CU Denver’s Safe Return planning team is working—quickly, conscientiously, and using the latest data, public health guidance, and information from other higher education institutions—to chart the course for what form our fall semester will take. That team’s focus has been on ensuring the health and safety of our campus community while also providing the highest quality learning experience for our students.

The Safe Return planning team will be presenting its recommendations to senior leadership later this week. We will review those recommendations and, after consultation with the CU System and our Board of Regents, finalize our course of action for the fall. You may expect further details about CU Denver’s fall semester from us by early June.

Meanwhile, I’d like to clarify the reference to tiers of classes in yesterday’s email.  For CU Denver, “on-campus required” would refer to those classes that are ideally taught with in-person, hands-on experiences such as laboratories and studios.  We expect that those classes will be prioritized as among the first to return to on-campus instruction.  If students have restrictions, medical or otherwise, that would prohibit them from returning to campus, alternative accommodations will be made. 

Thank you for your patience as we work to plan our safe return to campus, in concert with both our partner institutions on the Auraria Campus and with our fellow CU campuses.

Dorothy Horrell
Chancellor