These Times

David R. Colburn, Provost and Senior Vice President

For tens of thousands of Floridians, the aftermath of Hurricanes Charley and Frances and precautions associated with Hurricane Ivan have ranged from very serious to catastrophic. UF faculty, students and staff are no exception. We all know victims and indeed some of you have been victims. With all this in mind, I anticipate that there will be calls for understanding from students who have left town or have been called away for good reason. Some students will have missed classes already and others or will miss classes during this week.

A companion memo to this, from the Office of Student Affairs, has gone out to students reminding them that UF is, and has been, in session. It also reminds them that it is their responsibility to contact instructors if they have missed classes as a result of the storms. For our part in Academic Affairs, I ask that you give students every possible consideration as we work to get the semester back on track. It has been many years since we have had a set of events that have exposed our community to this level of hardship and concern. Please approach the post-storm issues with the same sensitivity and understanding you have shown in the past.