At 1:09 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11 Chancellor Joe Gow sent an email to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students, faculty and staff.

The email is below.

“As spring break nears at the end of the week, we are learning of additional cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin and throughout the U.S. Although we continue to have no confirmed cases in La Crosse, we know that the situation is evolving quickly, and we are taking added precautions to keep our campus and community safe and to slow the spread of the virus. We are continuing to closely follow the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, public health officials and other experts.

There are no changes to any classes or on-campus events this week (through March 13). All on-campus services will remain open. 

Changes to classes after spring break  

All UWL classes will be cancelled the week after spring break, March 23-27.  Subsequently, all classes will be held in online formats through Friday, April 10. Any exceptions will be communicated to students in the affected courses.

Students who wish to remain on campus during or immediately after spring break are permitted but not required to do so. Residence halls, dining services and all other on-campus services will remain open as usual. 

If students wish to be away from campus during this time, we encourage them to take any materials or equipment necessary for their classes, including textbooks, laptops and DUO fobs. Students should also consider taking any personal essentials, such as medications.

In-person classes may resume as early as Monday, April 13, depending on how the situation evolves. A decision on this will be communicated no later than April 6.

University-related travel 

All university-related out-of-state travel is suspended until Monday, April 13. We will continue to monitor how the situation evolves and communicate further decisions approximately April 6. In–state travel is still permitted but not required during this time. Employees should discuss any travel plans with their supervisors. All units are encouraged to consult with the UWL Infectious Disease Response Planning team with any questions related to travel. 

UWL recognizes we play an important role in helping to prevent the introduction of COVID-19 to the region.  We acknowledge that this travel suspension will cause disruptions. The university’s leadership team and I have made this decision after extensive deliberation and consultation and believe it is the best interest of our community. 

Personal travel 

During this time, we strongly recommend that students and employees reconsider any travel plans outside of the region, particularly to areas where the virus has been confirmed. If you must travel, please pay close attention to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) risk levels, information being released from your destination, and updates from air carriers.

We strongly discourage any personal travel that could result in quarantine when you return. For example, countries designated as high risk (level 2 or 3) because of COVID-19 include: Italy, China, South Korea, Iran, and Japan. Please visit the website for additional travel advisories related to other countries.  We also discourage traveling to domestic areas experiencing widespread community outbreaks.

As a campus community, we depend on all of our students, faculty and staff to exercise care for their own health and the health of others in our community, especially those who are more vulnerable to infectious diseases. Therefore, if you have traveled to an affected area or are showing cold or flu symptoms, please contact the Student Health Center for guidance. Also, we’d like to remind all students and employees to avoid racial or ethnic stereotyping and ensure that our efforts to be vigilant about health risks do not lead us to marginalize any members of our community.  

UWL Infectious Disease Response Planning team continues to meet regularly to evaluate the risks to UWL and consider contingency plans. All campus communications related to COVID-19 can be found on our website:https://www.uwlax.edu/info/covid-19/. Please continue to monitor your email for updates.”

There will be a press conference at 3 p.m. in the Hall of Nations.