Dear University Community,

Welcome to the 2021 spring semester at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

I wish you the best as we return to our campuses and I know that — in the spirit of the Warhawk family — we’ll continue to work together to ensure a safe and successful experience for everyone at UW-Whitewater. 

Without question, 2020 was a challenging year on many levels, but our students, faculty, staff and the community persevered. This year will certainly bring additional challenges for us to face. We’re all navigating these difficult times as best we can. 

Please remember to give yourself — and others — grace: showing kindness and patience and supporting one another as we work toward our collective goals.

Here are a few important topics to highlight as our Warhawk family begins the new year:

Safety continues to be our top priority. 

We ask everyone at both our Whitewater and Rock County campuses to continue to follow the principles outlined in the Warhawk Social Covenant. This includes wearing face coverings, maintaining social distance, washing hands frequently, and staying home if you don’t feel well. These actions are essential in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping in-person classes going at our campuses.

Testing is a critical action we all can do.

We begin this semester with an even more robust COVID-19 testing program, and we strongly encourage all faculty, staff and students to participate. This is part of our responsibility as caring and committed members of our community. We not only test for our own wellbeing, but for the good of others.

We ask all students who live in the residence halls to be tested once a week. All off-campus students, faculty and staff who come to campus should be tested once every two weeks.

Free nasal swab testing is offered in the Hamilton Room of the University Center at our Whitewater campus, as well as the Hyatt Smith Health Clinic Office at the Rock County Campus. An appointment is required. Please remember to bring your HawkCard. Visit our testing website for details.

Remember the academic calendar has changed slightly.

Spring Break will be held April 19-23, 2021. We will return to campus for about two weeks to complete classes, final exams and commencement. If conditions change, we will move to remote instruction for the completion of the semester. That decision will be made during the spring semester early enough to prepare for instruction, and for campus departure plans for students who will not be returning after Spring Break.

I hope you’ll virtually join me to celebrate the new year.

Everyone is invited to watch the State of the University Address at noon Monday, Feb. 1. Details on how to watch will be shared soon. The presentation will feature an overview of our challenges, opportunities and priorities for the coming year, and it will also honor our university colleagues and recent achievements. As you will see, we have much to celebrate.

Thank you for all you do for UW-Whitewater, and again, welcome to the spring semester.

Dr. Dwight C. Watson

Chancellor