The University of Florida currently plans to reopen on Wednesday, with classes resuming Thursday.

The past few days have brought devastation to our state, particularly in the southern part. Some members of our university community have suffered significant loss. In Gainesville, there is widespread power loss and some roads remain impassable due to downed trees and floods.

Our Gainesville campus never lost power, and apart from numerous downed trees, some flooding and modest damage, the campus was not affected to the extent we were expecting. UF has facilities in every Florida county and, in most cases, those facilities were spared from significant damage.

Weather conditions improved today. Considerable progress has been made in clearing Gainesville roads and much of the flooding has subsided. We expect limited RTS bus service to be restored Tuesday with full service by Wednesday. The J. Wayne Reitz Union will open Tuesday noon to 8 p.m. and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The game room will be open and limited food services will be available. With students on campus, we also plan to open UF libraries and the Florida Museum of Natural History on Tuesday. Times will be announced later.

Although classes are planning to resume on Thursday, students not currently in Gainesville must use their best judgment in deciding the right time to travel back to campus, making safety a priority. We are asking faculty members and academic staff to be as flexible and understanding as possible to personal hardship experienced by students.

We encourage any students in need of assistance to contact U Matter We Care at umatter@ufl.edu. We will do our best to assist students on a case-by-case basis.

All employees are expected to report to work at their normal time on Wednesday. We understand that some employees will have personal hardships that will prevent them from returning to work on Wednesday. Supervisors please be as flexible and understanding as possible. UF facilities outside of Gainesville should continue to follow county closing guidance.

Employees unable to return to work should contact their supervisors with that information, and supervisors should communicate this information up through their chain of supervision. UF Human Resources will provide guidance to college and vice presidential areas about next steps to assist those employees.

UF Health Clinical faculty and staff in the UF Health Science Center colleges and clinical practices will receive direct communication from their college and supervisors concerning their assignments for Wednesday Sept. 13.

UF Health Shands Hospital has and will remain open. UF Health Jacksonville will communicate to employees on any scheduling changes. We also are working to identify ways to provide financial and other support to our students, staff, and faculty in need. More details will follow, including how you can help members of our community who need additional assistance as we all work to recover from the storm.

We are grateful for all those working to help our university recover. Resuming campus operations will require personal sacrifices.

We all should be proud; that is the Gator way.