Kicking off the Spring Semester

Welcome to the beginning of the Spring 2021 semester!

To our employees, thank you for continuing to go above and beyond in preparing for a safe spring semester. To our students, we are eager to engage you as we support you in reaching your educational, professional, and personal life goals. Each of you makes the university a remarkable community, one that is navigating the challenges posed by Covid-19, but one that is also looking to our future with optimism that brighter days are ahead. 

As we start the spring semester, please remember it's more important than ever that we follow public health guidelines. Wearing masks, social distancing, getting tested when needed and completing the Panther Health survey daily are the tools that will help us remain on campus this semester.

I know that many in our community are feeling anxious or uncertain about the future and dealing with the effects of prolonged isolation from friends, family and colleagues. An entire year has passed since the first COVID-19 case was detected in the United States, and it may be another before we see our lives return to something like the normal of a year ago. Please remember that you are not alone. Services are available on campus for those coping with these issues.

Our best chance at a successful spring semester is to commit to looking out for each other and ourselves, showing gratitude for those who are working to make this in-person experience possible, and being compassionate to each other as we all do our best during a difficult time. 

Our mission of providing an affordable, high-quality education for everyone is sustained by the combined efforts of students, faculty and staff. It's working together - even amidst a global pandemic - that allows us to be a force for positive change that reverberates far outside our campus community. 

The success we achieved this past fall was a result of your collective efforts. We know that we will face serious challenges in the months ahead. For the health and safety of our campus community, we must recommit to staying safe as we wait for vaccines to become widely available. The success that we achieved during this global pandemic is due to your dedication to each other's safety and the extraordinary level of compassion and grace you each showed for other members of the Panther community. Thank you for building a strong UNI community.

Panther Proud,

Mark A. Nook
President, UNI