Dear Mines students and families,

With finals beginning later this week and Fall Commencement coming up on Dec. 18, we know many of you have questions about what to expect this spring semester, especially with respect to our return-to-campus plans, learning options and Spring Break.

Spring academic calendar and Spring Break 

We will begin our spring semester classes as planned on Tuesday, Jan. 12 and Spring Break remains scheduled for March 27-April 4. Students, faculty and staff advocated for keeping Spring Break as scheduled as it is a highly valued and much-needed break from classes. We also plan on a return to campus after Spring Break.

As we follow our published spring semester calendar, from time to time—as we did this fall semester—we may have to adjust the on-campus activities, instruction and services in response to the COVID-19 prevalence in our community and surrounding areas.

More opportunities for in-person learning and continued flexibility on course access 

As students may have noticed when registering for classes, around 70 percent of lecture courses will include in-person components, and most of our lab, studio and design project-focused courses will be in-person. We are still constrained by state and local health guidance on classroom capacity but have done our best to maximize the use of the classroom capacity that we have. As was the case this semester, those students wanting or needing to participate in their courses remotely will still be able to do so.

Also, to help our faculty who have had the unenviable challenge of teaching simultaneously to in-person, remote and quarantined or isolated students—and to improve the learning experience for all students—when returning to campus in 2021, students may find a Jedi in their classroom. Learn more about that and even apply in DiggerNet.

Return-to-campus plan and health monitoring 

All students returning to live, learn and/or use the facilities on-campus should be tested for COVID-19 the week of January 4—at a location near home or one of COVIDCheck Colorado’s testing sites. Students should receive a negative COVID-19 result and be symptom free before starting an in-person class or on-campus activity. All students have access to COVID-19 testing at COVIDCheck Colorado testing sites, including the one on the Mines campus.

Move-in will begin Jan. 9 for students living in the residence halls. As was the case this fall, students living in Mines residential communities, fraternities and sororities and all student athletes will be required to participate in a COVID-19 surveillance program. We will also be expanding this program to include random testing of off-campus students. Additional details regarding our COVID-19 monitoring program and related expectations will soon be added to the Mines Climbs Together website.

We’ve learned a lot this fall about managing COVID-19 occurrence and that is being built into our spring semester plans. We know that our classrooms are safe and that transmission primarily occurs through close social interaction and in households, and often originates from interactions outside of the Mines community. We also know rapid contact tracing, isolation of sick students and quarantine of close contacts are effective at minimizing transmission. We are optimistic for shorter quarantines and impacts to fewer students.

Other things to expect when you return to campus next semester 

While there has been encouraging news recently about a COVID-19 vaccine next year, based on discussions with state health officials, we do not expect general availability until late spring. As a result, adhering to the Oredigger Promise remains critical to protecting the health of our community. As has been the case this fall, we expect everyone to wear a mask whenever outside their household, follow social distancing guidelines, to participate in our COVID-19 surveillance program, contact tracing activities and to isolate or quarantine as needed, and to be supportive of others.

As we did this semester with the Student Recreation Center and the climbing wall, we will continue to look for opportunities to expand on-campus student activities. Student input has been valuable in identifying these options and developing plans for safe implementation.

We have already restarted NCAA sport competition for some winter sports and hope to continue that throughout the spring semester.

A successful fall semester 

Heading into this semester, our primary goal was a safe return to living and learning on campus, including flexible learning options and as much in-person learning as possible so that all students had opportunities to continue to advance toward their degrees.

While many universities opened and quickly closed, or never opened at all, we are proud to be approaching successful completion of our fall semester while having delivered on our goals.

A lot of preparation went into that, including changes to campus infrastructure and technology, expansion of learning modalities, opening a COVID-19 testing facility on campus, and establishing a COVID-19 Response Initiator Team (CRIT). The efforts of Mines faculty and staff have been herculean, and we should all recognize that. The sewing skills of our faculty, alumni, parents and campus neighbors that resulted in free masks for students at the start of the semester should be noted, too!

We also want to applaud the exemplary commitment of our students to the Oredigger Promise and to making self-sacrifices to quarantine and isolate on behalf of the community. This has been key to minimizing COVID-19 occurrence in our community, and one of the reasons we are keeping Spring Break on the calendar while others are shuttering it. Once again, our students have stepped up and shown how exceptional they are.

Best wishes for winter break and the holidays 

We hope that all of you have a great winter break and happy holidays. Parents of first-year students: Your students will sleep for about three days straight after finals, then focus on eating and binge-watching Netflix and eventually will get antsy about returning to Golden. Don’t worry—that’s all normal! Everyone: Enjoy your time together and stay healthy. We’re looking forward to our students’ return in January and a return to almost-normalcy at some point in 2021.

Go Orediggers!

Sincerely,

Paul C. Johnson, President and Professor
Richard Holz, Provost and Professor
Dan Fox, Vice President for Student Life