An important message from Dean Prado

Dear Graduate Students,

With the spring semester well underway, I invite you to prioritize all efforts that will allow us to continue in-person activities on our campuses. President Frenk’s most recent message provided welcomed news that we could resume approved in-person student activities now that the daily number of cases and positivity rates within the University of Miami Community have reduced, and we must do everything in our power to continue this downward trend. To achieve this, your compliance with the weekly testing requirement for on-campus students is of utmost importance.

As stated on coronavirus.miami.edu, any student who will be on any University of Miami campus at any point during the spring semester will be required to take a COVID-19 test at least once every week through the UScreen Testing Initiative. Students will receive emails and/or text message alerts to schedule their on-campus testing appointments. For more information on this process, please refer to this message.

As of February 8, the Daily Symptom Checker automatically receives real-time test information from UChart. If a student was not tested for COVID-19 in the week prior, the Daily Symptom Checker will not show the “Good to Go” screen. It will instead display a message instructing students to schedule a testing appointment as soon as possible by visiting their MyUHealthChart account or contacting the UScreen team at 305-284-5390 or uscreen@miami.edu. Students who do not comply with the weekly COVID-19 testing policy will be subject to immediate disciplinary action per the University’s Students Rights and Responsibilities handbook.

In addition to weekly testing compliance, I urge you to recommit to slowing the spread by completing the updated COVID-19 "We Are One U" module, as instructed by Provost Duerk. The updated module will allow you to refresh and reaffirm your commitment to our health and safety protocols for COVID-19.

As graduate students, many of you depend on in-person academic activities such as lab work and teaching duties to complete research and scholarly endeavors. By adhering to the weekly testing requirement and physical distancing efforts, you are contributing to the continued success of our graduate community.

Wishing you a healthy and safe semester,

Guillermo “Willy” Prado, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
Dean of the Graduate School