Coronavirus

by | Jun 17, 2023 | Coronavirus, News

Coronavirus Response

For all current COVID-19 information and resources, please visit www.tku.edu/covid.

Update: July 27th

UPDATE: JUNE 12

TKU Guide to Returning to Campus

A phased-in approach to resuming on-campus operations at The King’s University begins June 15 with the phased-in return of employees to prepare for the anticipated return of students to campus in August.

Please refer to this guide for details on health and safety measures, a phased-in return of employees, and preparation for on-campus academics and student success measures.

Health and Safety

The safe return to on-campus operations relies on each member of the TKU community exercising common sense, good judgement, and practicing the health and safety guidance contained in the University’s phased plan that is based on guidance from the state of Texas, the Texas Department of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the safety of our community, all employees, students, and visitors will be required to:

  • Respect social distancing measures (6 feet)
  • Consider wearing face coverings or masks while in public environment on campus where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
  • Practice frequent hand-washing hygiene and respiratory etiquette.

Guidelines for symptom monitoring and self-assessment, types of approved face coverings, as well as information on when not to come to campus also can be found in the plan.

Return to Campus for Staff and Faculty

The campus will be open to all employees with restrictions beginning June 15, 2020. These restrictions include limitation of occupancy to 50 percent of the workforce at any given time. Further details can be found within the guide.

Return to Campus for Students and Guests

Given the limitations of staff and faculty occupancy, the campus will be open to students and guests on appointment basis only.

Students and Guests may make an appointment directly with any TKU staff or faculty. Alternatively, appointments may be made by calling 817.722.7000 or emailing visit@tku.edu.

In addition, curbside services will be made available for resources from the Library and order pick-ups from the Campus Store.

To request a curbside pick-up, the following contacts should be used:

· Campus Store: 817.722.1617 or email campusstore@tku.edu.

UPDATE: MAY 22

Frequently Asked Questions for the Fall 2020 Semester

  • Will classes be offered on-campus in the Fall Semester?

TKU plans to offer on-campus classes for Fall 2020. However, we are paying close attention to the local and state regulations and will keep everyone up to date if changes are necessary.

  • Will I still qualify for the Blessed Life Scholarship if my on-campus classes are forced to be completed virtually?

Yes, students will still qualify for the Blessed Life Scholarship if on-campus classes are forced to be completed virtually. In this case, details regarding all Blessed Life Scholarship requirements would be announced.

  • What are the plans if we are forced into another quarantine situation in the midst of the semester?

In the event of quarantine, on-ground classes will be converted to online classes and would remain in the 15-week format, as was the case for Spring 2020 on-campus classes. 

  • How will the campus be cleaned and sanitized when we return?

TKU has taken measures to ensure our campus community is safe and clean by doing the following:

    • Disinfecting daily all touch points on campus with hospital grade cleaning solutions.
    • Providing touch-free sanitizer dispensers and pumps throughout the campus.
    • Posting CDC education materials across the campus to help promote awareness.
    • Making available face masks to students and guests at the front desk of our main lobby. At this time, we are limited, but we are working hard to obtain more to provide to those who wish to utilize them.
  • May I visit the campus?

Currently, TKU is a closed campus. However, beginning June 15, you may visit the campus by appointment only. Arrangements can be made by contacting the office you would like to visit.

  • Is the campus store open?

The campus store is open for curbside pickup or mail delivery. The order process is as follows:

    • Please send orders via email to campusstore@tku.edu, along with your phone number.
      • Specify whether the order is to be mailed or picked up at TKU, curbside. 
      • Also include the best time to call you.
    • The store manager will call you to take your payment over the phone.
    • Your order will be prepared and either shipped or made available for pickup.
    • Call 817.722.1617 when you are on your way to pick up and they will meet you at the door!
  • Is the library open?

Currently the campus is closed to the public. If you are having difficulty getting your required books for class or need other resources, please let those in the library know. They might be able to help. Call 817. 722.1620 or email library@tku.edu. 

  • Who do I talk to if I have concerns about paying my bill for Fall classes?

Limited Fall scholarships are available. If you have utilized federal aid opportunities and you are still experiencing economic hardship, please contact the Student Financial Services Office for alternative options and other potential aid. View funding options

The first round of Fall 2020 Scholarships closed on Friday, May 8. The second round of Fall 2020 scholarships will open in June. If you have questions, please email them directly to financialservices@tku.edu. 

  • Will student leadership opportunities be available in the Fall?

Students are always able to volunteer to assist with SGA initiatives and events. However, there are also other leadership opportunities available for Fall 2020. If you would like more information, please contact the Campus Life office at campuslife@tku.edu. 

UPDATE: MAY 1

The King’s University Leadership would like to bring you an update on the status of fund availability for those enduring hardship during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These funds are available to those who have exhausted all resources and are in need of financial assistance. Below you will find information regarding the eligibility requirements, application, and distribution of funds.

Student Crisis Relief Fund

The Department of Student Financial Services will review applications submitted for the Student Crisis Relief Fund and grant students on a case-by-case basis. The distribution of these funds is for students experiencing financial difficulties due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. These funds will be distributed directly to the student and will not be applied to outstanding institutional charges.

Do I Qualify?

Funds will be awarded to those who have filled out the application in its entirety and receive approval from The Department of Student Financial Services. Currently enrolled students may apply to receive funding if any of the following circumstances occurred due to COVID-19:

  • Elimination of jobs and/or reduction of income
  • Medical care
  • Housing and food insecurity
  • Utility expense
  • Technology needs for remote learning
  • Unexpected travel costs
  • Other unplanned essential expenses

Students must meet Title IV eligibility requirements in order to receive HEERF emergency funds.

The following students do not qualify for the Student Crisis Relief Funds:

  • International and Undocumented Students: Students must meet Title IV eligibility requirements in order to receive Student Crisis Relief Funds. Therefore, international and undocumented students are not eligible to receive emergency grants.
  • Online Students: Students who were enrolled exclusively in online programs on March 13, 2020 are not eligible for Student Crisis Relief Funds.

If you find that you are not eligible, please contact Student Financial Services for further assistance.

To apply for Student Crisis Relief, please click here to complete the application.

For more information, contact financialservices@tku.edu.

Updated January 12, 2021

The King’s University signed and returned to the Department of Education the Certification and Agreement and intends to use no less than 50% of the funds received under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act to provide emergency financial aid grants to students.
The King’s University received funds totaling $137,375 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to distribute directly to students.
The King’s University has distributed $137,375 as of September 15, 2020, to students under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act.
The estimated total number of students at The King’s University eligible to participate in programs under Section 484 in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and therefore eligible to receive emergency financial aid grants under Section 18004(a)(i) of the CARES Act is 392.
As of September 15, 2020, The King’s University has disbursed emergency financial aid grants to 73 students in the amount of $137,375.
The King’s University created an application for students in order to determine which students would receive Emergency Financial Aid Grants and how much they receive under Section 18004(a)(1) of the CARES Act. Students were then reviewed to determine if they were Title IV eligible. Click here for the link
The King’s University provided the following to the students concerning the CARES – Crisis Relief Funds.
• Posted to the TKU webpage under the COVID page
• Sent out notification in the Daily TKU Connect email that went to all current students, faculty, and staff (view communication)
• Posted to Facebook TKU Student Services page and TKU Campus Life page (view communication)
• Sent email to all students enrolled for Spring 2020 to their student email address (view communication)

UPDATE: APRIL 13

Former Student Federal Aid Borrower Relief

  • All federal student loan payments are suspended until September 30 and interest accrual is paused on those loans during that time. Your payments will automatically stop from March 13, 2020, through September 30, 2020.
  • Each month during this span will still count toward a qualifying payment toward an authorized loan forgiveness program.

Below you will find links to resources to help you in navigating this difficult.

Current Student Federal Aid Borrower Relief

  • Pell Grant recipients will not be required to repay the federal government if they are associated with a student that must leave school because of the crisis.
  • Any disrupted academic terms will also not count toward the lifetime limit on receiving Pell.
  • Any students forced to withdraw from classes due to the pandemic will not have their courses counted toward their Satisfactory Academic Progress. We highly encourage you to always chat with your academic advisor related to your options before withdrawing.

Current 2019-20 Tuition and Fees Assistance

We are here to help you navigate your options. We encourage you to pursue the following steps:

  1. File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) by April 24 to ensure you are not missing out on federal assistance.
  2. If you exhausted federal aid opportunities and you are still experiencing economic hardship, please contact the Student Financial Services Office for alternative options and other potential aid.

Crisis Relief Funds

The CARES Act recently signed ultimately provides emergency financial aid grants to our current students for eligible expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. These funds will be limited and will be granted to students who have experienced significant hardship during this time. TKU is expected to receive funding from the Department of Education soon. We will make an announcement when funding is available.

Looking Forward into 2020-21 Academic Year

We understand that the future is uncertain. We invite you to join us in believing for God’s favor and provision as you continue your journey at TKU and pursue some next steps now to secure future funding.

  1. We highly recommend you file your 2020-2021 FAFSA now for the next upcoming year.
  2. If you are experiencing hardship during this time, we encourage you to appeal for special circumstances. With adequate documentation, Student Financial Aid may be able to adjust the data elements to more accurately reflect the family’s current economic situation. In some cases, these adjustments may result in you qualifying for need based aid programs such as Pell, SEOG, subsidized loans, and/or work study jobs.

UPDATE: APRIL 6, 2020 (REGARDING 2020 COMMENCEMENT)

To the TKU Class of 2020,

The leadership, faculty, and staff of The King’s University wish to express to you our sincere congratulations! Graduating with a degree from an institution of higher learning is an accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated and recognized. Through your hard work, you have demonstrated that you are worthy of the honors that come with those accomplishments.

Unfortunately, as you are aware, our world is currently in the throes of a crisis rarely seen as we struggle to mitigate the disastrous effects of COVID-19. In spite of deadlines placed on current social distancing restrictions, it remains unknown whether those deadlines will be stay in place or be extended. This unknown situation makes planning for events scheduled to take place over the next two months untenable.

Consequently, the leadership of The King’s University has made the painful decision to postpone this year’s commencement exercises. We know that this comes as a disappointment to you. At the same time, we know that you understand the reasons for the decision and share with us the neighborly love enjoined in the gospels that place the well-being of others over our own wishes. While painful, it is the right decision to postpone the exercises.

Hopefully, you have noticed that we said, “postpone.” Instead of this May’s ceremonies, we will celebrate commencement on August 13, 2020. You can be assured that we are dedicated to making sure that the postponed ceremonies will be carried out with the same level of joyous excellence as you’ve come to expect. This is an opportunity to celebrate you as well as what God has done at The King’s University.

During this season, we assure you that we are joined with you in prayers for the healing of our land. We lift up all those affected in any way by the virus as well as the personnel working on the frontlines to care for others and keep supply chains operating. We are confident that God will graciously turn to our land with healing and renewal.

Please stay tuned for more information regarding the August 13 commencement events. We look forward to seeing you then!

Directional Leadership Team

The King’s University

UPDATE: APRIL 6, 2020 (REGARDING SUMMER 2020 CLASSES)

The following important updates to summer courses have been identified.  Students should consult with their academic advisors for any specific questions.

  • The format of the scheduled May and June intensive courses has been changed, and those courses are being offered online. Students should sign up as soon as possible if they hope to take one of these courses, or any of the previously scheduled online courses.  The courses which are newly being offered as online summer courses (May 11-June 28) are the following:
    • BIBL 2309/5306 Book of Mark/Studies in Mark (blended course), taught by Dr. Jon Huntzinger
    • BIBT 1304 Christian Worldview, taught by Dr. Dan Call (this is a second section of this course, in addition to the section being taught online by Dr. Jeremy Wallace)
    • BIBM 6305 Ministry Management, taught by Dr. Robb Brewer

Note: all these courses will be taught contingent on a sufficient number of students registering for them

  • The following MMFT courses, which were originally scheduled to be on-ground courses meeting weekly on Mondays from May 11-June 28, are being switched to being offered in a Zoom online format (check with the MMFT office or your instructor for further details):
    • BIBC 5101 Current Trends in Counseling – Brad Fairchild
    • BIBC 6101 Psychopathology – Brad Fairchild 
    • BIBC 6102 Business and Ethics – Brad Fairchild 
    • BIBC 5311 Practicum – Glenna Massey 
    • BIBC 5313- Counseling Diverse Populations – Shamira Ayala
  • No Practicum courses have been cancelled, but students should communicate with the practicum instructor listed on their course schedules and your program directors to verify that there are adequate practicum hours available for the course to be completed by the end of the summer session. Otherwise, students should consider dropping the course and rescheduling it for a later semester.
  • The format of the June blended modular course, BIBM 3327/7322 The New Anti-Semitism/Studies in the New Anti-Semitism, taught by Shawn Moir and Michael Brown, has been changed. It will be offered in a Zoom modular format.  Further information will be made available by the course instructors and the MJS office.
  • The Doctor of Ministry June cohort courses for all cohorts, originally scheduled for June 22-26, will be switched to a Zoom online format. The Doctor of Ministry office and individual instructors will provide more details to DMin students regarding the synchronous and asynchronous schedule and assignments throughout the summer semester calendar.
  • The July Doctoral Oxford Intensive, originally scheduled for July 12-18, has been cancelled. DMin students who had registered for those courses (Profiles of Leadership and the Project Proposal courses) should instead make arrangements to register for the parallel June DMin courses.  Please contact the DMin office for details and assistance.
  • The TKU Oxford Experience, originally scheduled for July 26-August 7, has been cancelled. The blended courses on Christian Unity and Reconciliation, taught by Dr. Cole and Dr. Ulmer, will not be offered this summer.  We have made arrangements to once again offer the Oxford Experience in the summer of 2021, and will provide further details in the coming months.

These updates are in addition to the announcements that the campus offices will be closed through May 1, and that Commencement  for the TKU Class of 2020 will be postponed until August.  We will provide additional details as soon as we can confirm them.

UPDATE: APRIL 1, 2020

The King’s University leadership is continuing to closely monitor the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As the situation continues to change rapidly, our top priority remains to be the health, safety, and well-being of our community. We are sensitive to the financial stressors the members of our community are facing as a result of COVID-19. Therefore, we would like to make you aware of some important events that took place last week.

On March 27, 2020, The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. Among other federal support, TKU is expecting to receive a share of a $14.2 billion Higher Education Stabilization Fund, which will soon provide emergency financial aid grants for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the coronavirus. The amount has not yet been determined but will be based on the number of full-time enrolled students, as well as the number of Pell grant students at TKU.  As soon as more information is made available, we will communicate with the TKU community as quickly as possible.

However, it is important to take note of the immediate relief for our students and alumni as follows:

  • The halting of all student loan payments for six months and pausing interest accrual on those loans during that time.
  • Each month during this span would still count toward a qualifying payment toward an authorized loan forgiveness program
  • Pell Grant recipients would not be required to repay the federal government if they had to leave school because of the crisis
  • Any disrupted academic terms would also not count toward the lifetime limit on receiving Pell

Please visit the TKU coronavirus webpage for updates, resources, and additional information as it becomes available.

UPDATE: MARCH 24, 2020

In compliance with the Tarrant County shelter in place order, the TKU Campus will remain closed to the public. All spring 2020 classes at TKU will be held entirely online through the duration of the semester. A decision will be made on April 6, 2020, about the status of our 2020 commencement ceremony scheduled for May 7, 2020. When a decision has been made, this news article will be updated.

MARCH 12, 2020

We hold the health, safety, and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff with great care. With the increasing number of cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) reported in our country, TKU’s Directional Leadership Team has worked diligently to respond to what the World Health Organization has declared a global pandemic.

Based on guidelines given by the Center for Disease Control, Tarrant County Public Health, and the latest data, TKU is adopting these measures:

Extended Spring Break

TKU will extend the 2020 spring break for one additional week, through Sunday, March 22. All on-ground classes will resume entirely online on Monday, March 23, through Friday, April 3. Classes will resume on campus on Monday, April 6, 2020. However, if a community outbreak occurs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area or the situation otherwise becomes worse, TKU is prepared to provide classes online for a longer period. To be clear, the TKU campus will remain open and many of our operations will continue.

Here’s a breakdown of the dates:
• March 15-22 – Classes suspended for on-ground students only (online classes will continue as scheduled)
• March 23 – Classes for on-ground students will resume online
• April 3-4 – WIML Course Module “History of Women in Ministry Leadership” meets on campus
• April 6 – All other classes for on-ground students continue as scheduled

Faculty and staff, including campus security, will continue to report to work as usual and take the recommended steps to prevent illness. We are asking all faculty and staff who feel sick to remain at home.

Events

All TKU-sponsored events scheduled to take place before Monday, April 6, 2020, will be suspended.

Thank you for helping keep the TKU community safe. This is not how we foresaw the spring 2020 semester taking place, but we are committed to the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff. We are so grateful for you, and we’re excited about the opportunity we have to bring the peace and kingdom of God to the world during this unsettling time.

Blessings,

TKU Directional Leadership Team

Please refer back to this news post for on-going updates

For questions, please email one of the following addresses.

Student Life
students_covid@tku.edu

Academics
academics_covid@tku.edu