As many may be aware, UK is in the process of reopening August 17 with a mix of in person lectures, on-line, and hybrid courses. Sounds simple, in practice not so much.
The Department has been extremely proactive in getting ready for the unprecedented fall semester. UK significantly reduced our classroom capacities. Our main classroom (113), now seats only 21. Rather than keep students from not being able to register for needed classes like dendrology, measurements, silviculture, we developed an overflow classroom, where students can go in the building to participate in the simulcast lectures. Which means we will be live streaming many of our classes. We have also put up sneeze shields at the lecterns and have bought high quality lapel microphones and remote speakers so that students can hear instructors that have to be behind the sneeze shield or are wearing masks. All students and staff must wear masks in shared spaces in the building. The whole thing is one giant mess, and hopefully we can stay functional until Thanksgiving, which is now the end of the semester.
Because students are not allowed to “congregate” in the building, we have to shut down the student lounge and other student resources in T.P. Cooper. To overcome this, we are erecting two student tents with chairs in the front lawn to provide a place for them to hang out between classes (while still maintaining social distance and wearing a mask!).
Unfortunately, we had to cancel our annual fall picnic this year. However, we hope to have it again next fall.