Kenyon extends Spring Break for 2 weeks. Next week will be used by Profs to set up online instruction. Following week, classes will take place remotely. As of right now, classes will resume normally March 30.
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Yes, Ohio State did that. Spring break is this week. Classes will be online after that until at least end of March, but campus is not closed. Students can live in the dorms (or off-campus apartments) or return home.
Denison is also moving to online learning after the break that begins this Saturday, at least through April 3 and possibly through the end of the semester. The governor of Ohio held a press conference today recommending that all Ohio colleges move online, so presumably others will now follow. At Denison, the students have been asked to move out by the 16th, although international students and others may be permitted to remain on campus.
Email from UCSB Chancellor:
Our campus will be transitioning to remote instruction for the remainder of Winter Quarter and the start of the Spring Quarter through at least the end of April. Given our campus’s transition to remote instruction and the possibility of additional travel disruptions and restrictions, we are recommending that all undergraduate students traveling for spring break be prepared for the possibility of remaining away from campus through the month of April. We understand that graduate students have different academic commitments and recommend that they consult with their advisors and departments.
Instruction
• Effective March 11, 2020, for the remainder of Winter Quarter, we strongly recommend that instructors make alternative arrangements for in-person classes and for final exams. In addition to alternative assignments, such as remote exams, instructors may make use of Proctor U for online exams. Instructors will be communicating directly with their students with more specific details.
• To the extent possible, instructors and departments should make plans to shift Spring Quarter classes from in-person formats to remote formats, using alternative modalities, at least through the month of April.
• Students who remain on campus through the break and during the month of April will also be receiving instruction remotely, and must also be prepared for limited on-campus activities and services. More detailed guidance and information about services for students will follow in subsequent communications.
• Additional guidelines and information will be sent to instructors to assist with this transition.
A very confusing situation here at UCSB. Professors were not warned of the announcement and some courses simply are not made for online finals. There are questions whether Proctor U is even set up for 600+ student courses at the last minute. Some professors are emailing students saying that finals will still be held in person next week for their course despite the Chancellor’s email. And beyond next week, everything is vague about courses after Spring Break which is unfortunate for those of us who live out-of-state and have to decide whether to come back after Spring Break or not.
@HeyItsNick why are Denison students being asked to move out if university hasn’t decided to go online through the end of the semester yet?
What will happen with graduations at these colleges?
@adlgel , here’s what the notice from Denison says on that point:
“All students are expected to leave campus by Monday, March 16, through at least April 3. There is a very real possibility that we will extend remote learning through the end of the semester, therefore we strongly encourage students to take all of their belongings if at all possible, and especially all items and materials they need to continue their studies remotely. A subsequent notice to students will provide more information about packing and moving support.”
As I posted above, Florida Tech already ‘cancelled’ (it is still holding graduation, but no guests allowed and it will be video/broadcast). The school has not closed for this term but has cancelled foreign travel. Sort of the opposite of most as it has international students so going online would be difficult. Better to just hunker down on campus.
I haven’t heard of any Colorado schools closing or planning to close. We had one private elementary school close early on Friday and won’t reopen until tomorrow because a parent who had traveled to Italy was positive. All Colorado cases seem to have a path (cruise ship, travel to Italy) and no pockets. Everyone else is still open.
We have a freshman at Arizona State University - Tempe Campus. They are on Spring Break THIS week. At this moment, ASU is monitoring the Covid-19 recommendations from the CDC and considering remote learning. Students & parents are in a “wait and see” mode.
Although I know our freshman would be very disappointed if she had to move out of her dorm and finish the semester back home, we certainly can’t move her out and then back in to the dorm on some random date this semester, when we live almost 1300 miles away. I think those colleges asking students to go ahead and move out are making it a much easier process.
The students will be fine. They will be ok physically. There is probably more risk with the travel than the virus for them statistically.
I personally don’t think there will be any lasting impact on normal college life next year. Maybe a fall impact… Certainly there will be better preparedness procedures put into place, one hopes.
World wars basically shut down schools across the world. When it stabilizes it will return to normal.
I hope if any grads or other events are cancelled there will be special events and delayed graduations at a later date with employers on board. And make them more memorable than ever, somehow.
The colleges and universities are equally concerned with students being super carriers and this is to protect professors, nursing students in clinicals and staff who are more at risk categories, as an important consideration.
I also heard from multiple sources that BC will announce all in person classes cancelled as of tomorrow. Not sure about housing etc. Some profs have already announced it to some students.
My daughter tells me that the TriCo schools are all trying to figure out what they want to do, and that the kids overlap classes and campuses, so it would be awkward for them to not work in concert. She’s honestly worried about her friends from other countries and what happens to them if they’re supposed to just pick up and go home early- can they do that, can they afford that, and will they be able to come back. She also has a fairly serious anxiety disorder, and sickness is a trigger for her, so this situation is really hard on her in general.
@twoinanddone i believe Colorado College has told the kids to leave for the rest of the year.
Do you know if they’ve cancelled all tours and Admitted Student days?
Colorado College can do it easily because of the block system. They can just have people make up the blocks later. Other schools here have a majority of student locked into 12 month leases so if they close the campus/dorms there will still be a majority of students living across the street from campus (CU, CSU, Mesa) DU is hosting the NCAA hockey tournament (western) and they aren’t going anywhere. They are still selling tickets to that and other events on and off campus.
There has been little talk of community colleges and urban schools where most of the students commute to school closing. The students at Metro State in Denver crowd onto light rail and buses every day to get to classes.
@safiastyle wrote
I don’t know. My info is coming from the parent of a Grinnell student being sent home. However, I doubt they’ll continue with tours.
According to Grinnell, administrative buildings will be open but
https://www.grinnell.edu/news/important-covid-19-planning-updates
Same at UCLA. Just this morning I received an email from my department chair encouraging faculty to consider switching to online instruction in the spring and that UCLA will be rolling out Zoom tutorials in upcoming days. I received an email shortly after 4 PM that we’re switching to online instruction as of tomorrow. The faculty are ticked off by such incredibly short notice, especially those of us who have to scramble to figure out how to deal with labs and final exams.
Students must have been notified only about 10 minutes later, since my inbox was promptly flooded with emails from students understandably bewildered and upset.
It was incredibly disorganized. While I understand that this could not be fully planned, the release of information could have been better. I was actually in one of my classes when the email was released and the Professor had started the class by saying that the final would be in-person next week and that the Department Head had confirmed that finals would continue as planned, but the email sent out only 30 minutes later completely threw that out the window.
With confusion already present because of the GSE strike and now this extra stress, I really feel for the Professors. I don’t know what the striking situation is at UCLA but I am sure you are just as stressed as the Professors are here. Hang in there!
So sad for all the seniors…and yes I know people are dying and we need to make sure it doesn’t spread into the schools…but I still feel horrible for them. Hopefully warmer temps bring better news (like the flu)
@thumper1 In 1970 many if not most colleges cancelled commencement. The Kent State shootings and resulting student strikes and protests were the reason. It was only in 2010 that Boston University invited the Class of 1970 back to walk in commencement.
West Chester U in PA has suspended in person classes for the rest of the semester, and dorms are closing. I saw this posted this morning by a friend who works there.