Dear UMPI Students,

As Chancellor Malloy has stated, the University of Maine System students, faculty, and staff have done an amazing job maintaining safety measures to keep our community safe.  We also want to recognize that COVID fatigue is real.  This can include physical exhaustion and general tiredness, as well as decreased motivation and increased anxiety; and this can impact different individuals in different ways.  But we have certainly all experienced this fatigue in some form or another.  Communication is critical in our continuing ability to provide you the support you need and help to ensure your success both for the remainder of this semester and as we prepare for the spring semester.

Although the last day of live classes at UMPI is November 20 and students are expected to have moved home by 5:00pm on November 25 to complete the remainder of the semester online, we know that several of you are considering leaving campus early.  We want to support your decision about when to return home and help you to make any necessary adjustments.

However, please be aware that faculty (and your advisors) must be notified in order to provide final approvals for such adjustments to occur before November 20.   Different majors and courses have unique requirements that may not allow this switch to occur before that time.

So, for those of you on campus and considering leaving before November 20, please speak with your advisor to determine if you might be able to move your courses online.

Your advisor may advise you to ASK your professor if he or she would be willing to allow you to move online.    Your advisor may also request that you submit documentation to Mary Kate Barbosa (mary.barbosa@maine.edu) in Student Support Services to support online instruction as an accommodation.

Note, as well, that online “winter” session courses are now available for the period of time between the end of the fall semester and the start of spring semester.  Please speak to your faculty or professional advisor if you are interested in such courses.  And a final reminder that Spring semester begins one week later than usual on January 25.

Once again, please do not hesitate to contact your advisors or Student Support Services (mary.barbosa@maine.edu) at any point in time for assistance.

Best,

Ray