It’s the university’s main priority to provide you a meaningful campus experience in the safest environment possible. We’ve been working with public health officials and medical experts to develop a comprehensive set of guidelines to help protect the health and safety of our community.
UMKC has a notification process for students. Start with this step:
Do not visit campus or any public areas. Follow the advice of your health-care provider, cooperate with contact tracing with public health officials and continue to practice good health hygiene.
If you test positive, stay home. Within four hours of your learning of your positive test, you need to start the process for notifying UMKC so we can notify campus of a positive case and begin necessary sanitization.
Our campus attendance policy outlines attendance expectations and excused absences. You are encouraged to communicate proactively with your instructors, should you need to miss class for any reason. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, even if mild, do not attend class and get tested using our free, rapid testing services at student health: go.umkc.edu/covidtesting.
Students requesting COVID-related academic accommodations should contact Scott Laurent at 816-235-5696 or laurentr@umkc.edu in the Student Disability Services office.
Yes, free rapid testing is available on campus by appointment at go.umkc.edu/covidtesting.
We are providing guidance and resources to help student organizations build community and a sense of belonging while still observing all relevant guidelines. All events must be submitted via the RooGroups event form a minimum of one week prior to the event.
Each event request will be reviewed and must comply with the university’s event and COVID-19 policies at the time of the event. Check out the event best practices for more information. Room capacity and availability, as well as the ability to serve food/drinks, could be limited and restricted due to physical distancing requirements. Please review the best practices to evaluate the best format for hosting your student organization event/meeting: in-person, virtual or a hybrid model (both in-person and virtual).
If you have any concerns about exposure, please contact the UMKC Student Health and Wellness Center at 816-235-6133 or the Kansas City Health Department at 816-513-6008. Free, rapid testing is available and they will give you information on quarantine/isolation, based on the most up-to-date CDC guidance.
Counseling Services
Students, faculty and staff are reminded to use the free Sanvello app available to anyone with a UMKC email address and which can be downloaded from your cell phone. For additional updates and coping resources to deal with the stress associated with COVID–19 please visit the Counseling Services website.
Campus Facilities Management follows all CDC guidelines for cleaning and uses a hospital-grade disinfectant that is approved by the EPA as effective against COVID-19 and many other viruses.
UMKC will offer classes in multiple formats in the fall semester – face-to-face, hybrid/blended, and online – providing our international students with options to meet the requirements set by the U.S. government to remain in the U.S. and continue studying. All new international students on F1 visas are required to have at least one in-person class. We recommend that international students review their current fall enrollment with their academic advisor to be sure they are taking the right course options to remain in compliance. Please contact the International Student Affairs Office at isao@umkc.edu with any questions.
Yes, international students outside the United States may take as many online courses as they wish. If you are maintaining your visa status while outside the US, you will be required to maintain full-time enrollment, so communicate with your academic advisor to determine online course availability for the fall semester to ensure you will be able to meet the enrollment requirement. If you do not yet have F1 status in the U.S. or will be re-entering the U.S. on a new I-20 in the future, you may enroll below full-time.
Those who have received an FDA or World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccine and are fully vaccinated (meaning 14 days past the last shot in the vaccination series) are not required to quarantine upon entry to the U.S. They are still recommended to get a COVID test 3-5 days after international travel. Testing is available free on campus. Self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days after travel and isolate and get tested if you develop symptoms.
Nothing has changed for those who are unvaccinated. Their options remain to get tested on day 3-5 following entry and quarantine for 7 days after travel. If they choose not to be tested, they are required to quarantine for 10 days after travel.
As always, unvaccinated travelers should avoid being around those at risk for 14 days and report any onset of COVID-like symptoms that may occur during the 14 days following travel.
For more information about the university's liability, please see MO Senate Bill 51.
Based on the latest guidance from local health experts, UMKC requires students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear masks in public indoor settings.
The University of Missouri System policy calls for individual campuses to follow local public health requirements for masking, and continues to recommend masking in indoor settings. At UMKC, that means face coverings will continue to be required in all public indoor settings, including our classrooms, labs and other learning spaces.
For those who are unvaccinated, masks are required in both indoor and outdoor settings on campus.
Masks are still required in hospitals or other health-care settings, and public transportation settings.
Learn more about masking on campus on the Health and Safety page.
Residential Life students are required to provide documentation prior to move-in of either being fully vaccinated or having a negative COVID test from within 3 days prior to move-in. Fully vaccinated is considered to be 2 weeks past last shot. A scan or photo of documentation should be submitted by the student in the RooRez portal. If vaccinated, residents should also submit their card to the University.
Residents, staff and guests are expected to wear a mask in all indoor areas of Residential Life, with the exception of when residents are in their assigned room with only individuals assigned to that room.
Residents will be permitted to have guests. Guests must be escorted by their host at all times. Upon arrival residents will need to meet their guest at the Welcome Desk and sign them into the building. The guest will need to leave a photo ID with the desk while they are in the building. When the guest leaves, they will sign out of the building.
Kitchens, study rooms, lounges, music practice rooms and classrooms will all be available for resident use. Due to equipment or location, some will require the resident to check a key out from the Welcome Desk.
All retail locations will return to 100% capacity. The Dining Hall will operate at 75% capacity to allow for additional distancing and flexibility.
All guests are required to wear a mask when entering and exiting all locations and at all times when moving about within the venues. Masks may be removed only when actively eating.
Please contact Eric Gormly, assistant director of Veteran Student Support Services (VSSS) at gormlyea@umkc.edu.
Please contact the Information Services Technology Support Center, techsupportcenter@umkc.edu, 816-235-2000.
The University of Missouri system is working to help secure the resources students need. For more information on resources for internet access, check out this page.
In order to better provide resources to those not on campus or using personal laptops we are introducing Roo Labs Online! This is a new service that will enable students to remotely access physical Windows lab computers from anywhere and from most computing devices. Students will have access to all standard and specialized software currently installed in the computer labs.
You can find more information about Roo Labs Online here.
University travel, domestic and international, will resume with people following all guidelines and restrictions according to the CDC. This includes study-abroad programs.
Please visit the CDC for the most up-to-date guidelines for quarantine following international travel.
For information regarding on-campus vaccine clinics, visit our Vaccines page.
We continue to urge all members of our community to be vaccinated against this deadly disease. Vaccination remains our single best defense against COVID-19. We continue to offer vaccinations to members of our campus community through our partners at University Health Truman Medical Center. Register online or call (816) 404-CARE (2273) and press option 1.
We are also instituting a voluntary system for students and employees to upload their vaccination status to a university database. Here’s the link for students.
UMKC faculty, staff, students and volunteers who have direct patient contact are required to be vaccinated.
