The University of Mississippi has been taking extensive and exhaustive planning efforts in order to resume daily operative and return to instruction on campus for the Fall 2020 semester, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Part of their efforts include Campus Ready, which is a comprehensive plan encompassing all aspects of campus life from academics and student experiences to offices and research labs.

The Campus Ready plan is constantly being updated as additional health recommendations and direction from local, state, and federal governing bodies is provided.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, there are lots of moving pieces to the university’s Campus Ready plan for the fall 2020  semester,” said Rod Guajardo, the associate director of strategic communications at the University of Mississippi. “Parts of this plan are being updated constantly to reflect the most up-to-date guidance we’re providing students, faculty and staff.”

Campus Ready follows a list of guiding principles as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these principles include:

• Prevent the spread of the virus to safeguard our community by following guidance of public health officials and agencies,
• Resume an on-campus learning, residential and working environment that prioritizes the safety and well-being of the campus population,
• Fulfill our core mission of education, research, and service, and
• Enable our students to maintain progress toward earning their degrees.

“While we remain focused on preserving the on-campus experience, COVID-19 has forced us to rethink everything we do,” said a paragraph in the introduction to Campus Ready. “Not only in higher education but in every aspect of our daily lives. It has eliminated many fundamental assumptions that support our activities, educational processes, and interactions. It requires us to think about each campus activity anew and reassess why we do it, what we are trying to accomplish, how it supports our mission, and how we can structure those activities, without contributing to the virus spread.”

As the Fall semester begins, it is important that faculty, staff and students pay attention to the protocols that have been put in place.