August 21, 2020
When classes resume next week, you will notice improvements across campus designed to support your well-being. UCF Facilities & Safety has been working since March to retrofit buildings and limit the spread of COVID-19.
This includes enhanced cleaning practices. Three shifts of housekeeping staff are cleaning restrooms, hallways, common areas, breakrooms and more 24 hours a day. In addition, housekeepers have increased cleaning of high-touch surfaces with frequent wipe-downs of door handles, elevator buttons, handrails and common-area surfaces. Housekeepers will wear personal protective equipment and maintain physical distancing while going about this important sanitization work.
Other changes include:
- Distribution of reusable face coverings to all students, faculty and staff. All students and employees are required to wear face coverings inside shared indoor spaces and outdoors in areas where physical distancing isn’t possible.
- Disposable masks for vendors, visitors and contractors.
- Most classes will be online. Face-to-face classes will be held in classrooms with drastically reduced seating capacity to ensure physical distancing.
- 1,200 touchless hand sanitizer dispensers and 600 disinfecting wipe dispensers installed across campus.
- Increased numbers of hands-free flushing toilets, soap dispensers and faucets, as well as door-mounted foot levers for hands-free opening.
- Nightly application in all classrooms of a sanitizing fogging treatment that kills viruses and bacteria
- 1,300 touchless paper towel dispensers installed campus-wide.
- Plexiglass panels mounted in the welcome center, financial aid offices, student advising offices and other areas.
- Upgraded building ventilation systems with UV-C ultraviolet lighting in high-density buildings; and upgraded air filtration across campus.
- Reduced seating capacity and upgraded live GPS tracking on UCF shuttles.
- Signage posted across campus reminding people to wear masks, physically distance and wash their hands.
As Knights, each of us has a responsibility to protect ourselves and others. Here’s what you can do:
- Take the Armor Up Pledge to protect your fellow Knights and the community.
- Wear a face covering, maintain physical distancing and practice good hand hygiene — on and off campus.
- Avoid large parties, bars, nightclubs and other crowded, indoor gatherings, which act as “super spreader” events that cause high rates of infection.
- Check for possible symptoms of COVID-19 using UCF’s self-checker every day before coming to campus through the online COVID Self-Checker or on the UCF Mobile app.
- Visit UCF’s coronavirus site for information about how to get a COVID-19 test on campus and other resources.
Working together, we can have a successful fall semester. Thank you for doing your part.
Misty Shepherd
Interim Vice President, Administration
Chief Operating Officer