March 17th, 2020

Dear UHP students,

I hope this note finds you all healthy and doing well and preparing well for your finals. We understand the additional complications and stress the campus COVID-19 situation has caused, as well as other related and unrelated issues you may be concerned about.

As you may know, the Chancellor has made the call to go online for Spring instruction. As a result, I'm providing some important items to note below, with more information to follow soon.

--First- we are here for you. Please continue to reach out to Kelly van Zandt  (first and second years) and Claudia Guerrero (transfers, third and fourth years) for any advising needs.  Phone calls or zoom meetings can be scheduled one on one or in groups as needed, any time they are needed. As always, you can reach out to Associate Director Eddy Ruiz (ruiz@ucdavis.edu) or me (jdfurlow@ucdavis.edu) anytime as well.

--Second, know that as far as any impact on remaining eligible to continue in UHP, remember that we wait until Spring quarter grades are available not on a quarter by quarter basis. Further, as always, we have a process in place that if you don't reach the minimum GPA you can ask for an appeal which we would clearly consider in light of the Winter and Spring impacts on instruction and everyone's overall health and well being.

--Third, as far as UHP courses, as the campus has gone, so has UHP. Classes will continue but with various online components. In person activity is not allowed at this time. Optional in person opportunities may arise later in the quarter, conditions permitting, but that remains to be sorted out. We are communicating with our faculty about their courses, and working to keep the unique, participatory nature of the UHP courses intact now that we need to rely more on remote instruction than originally planned.

--Lastly, for our third and fourth-year students, we recognize the impact campus closure and uncertainty about next quarter has had on completing your Spring quarter UHP requirements, including Signature Work and the presentation requirement. Please reach out to your faculty mentors about the plans for next quarter and what can be reasonably accomplished to meet the goals of the work. If you run into any difficulties let us know and we can work with your faculty mentors on options. The Undergraduate Research Center staff are working hard on alternative and exciting new ways to host the Conference in late April, so I would encourage you to keep an eye out for more information and still plan to show off your work. But in the meantime, UHP is making the signature work presentation requirement optional for this year. More details to follow from our advisors and Associate Director Ruiz on fulfilling your UHP requirements this year.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are thinking about all of you and please do keep in mind- one of the great things about UHP is our community, and you have not only each other but that extra layer of advising, mentoring, and advocacy on your behalf as a member of the UHP community.

Best wishes for a successful close to the quarter, and stay well,

 Dave Furlow, PhD

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education

Director, University Honors and First-Year Seminars Programs