International Travel Changes

Dear Campus Community,

As we move into 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge us. However, we have the tools to support the health and safety of our community and the communities with whom we interact, while at the same time engaging in our critical work.

This includes our commitment to being a globally engaged university. Along with testing and masking, we know that fully vaccinated and boosted individuals can resume many of their pre-pandemic activities with a low risk of becoming seriously ill.

Accordingly, following the recommendation of the UK International Center and with further review by our START team of health professionals and scientists, the guidelines for UK-endorsed international travel by faculty and staff have been updated:

• The university will no longer require destination-specific review and approval for faculty and staff international travel, but some restrictions will remain in place, including the requirement that international airline tickets must be purchased through UK Travel Services. Detailed information is available at this link.
• All UK-endorsed faculty and staff international travel must be registered in the university’s international travel registry.
• UK-endorsed international travel by all students, including undergraduates, graduate students and GME residents, as well as Education Abroad programs, will continue to be reviewed and approved in alignment with UK Administrative Regulation 4:9.

The international travel landscape remains very complicated. But our teaching, research and service work transcends national borders. So, it is imperative that we continue engaging globally to advance the university and the Commonwealth. Our focus is on ensuring that our travelers are as informed and prepared as possible before departure.

We continue to closely monitor the course of the pandemic around the world, and these guidelines will be updated as needed. These changes reinforce our fundamental goal of taking care of our people and streamline the administrative processes associated with our continuing return to normal operations. Thank you for all you do to support this work.

Eli Capilouto

President