HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University is the latest institution to change plans for instruction because of the novel coronavirus.
MU announced on Wednesday afternoon that it plans to temporarily transition to distance instruction “to help protect the university community from COVID-19 and mitigate the spread of the virus in the larger community.”
President Jerome A. Gilbert said in a statement with the decision, “After careful consideration of the implications of the possible spread of COVID-19 and its impact on our students and their families, I have decided to alter the university calendar.
“Our task force of senior leadership and subject matter experts are conferring around the clock, focused on our university’s preparations and response. We have been monitoring developments closely and providing regular updates as the rapidly changing situation evolves. We have no greater responsibility than the safety and security of our university community and the community at large.”
The suspension of in-person classes will begin next week from March 16-20 to allow faculty to prepare for altered course delivery following Spring Break. Gilbert told MetroNews that there are no obligations for students to have any responsibilities associated with those classes next week.
The following week, March 23-27 is Spring Break for the school.
Following Spring Break, beginning March 30 all class instruction at Marshall will be delivered non-face-to-face. These distance methods will vary from class to class, and may include online, e-mail or other means, the school said.
Students will receive information from their instructors about how to access instruction remotely.
Next week, faculty will use the time to prepare their classes for remote delivery, and later this week all faculty will receive information from the Office of Academic Affairs about the next steps.
Marshall University this afternoon announced plans to temporarily transition to distance instruction to help protect the university community from COVID-19 and mitigate the spread of the virus in the larger community.
Visit https://t.co/yyJWg8ZPlF for more information— Marshall University (@marshallu) March 11, 2020
Gilbert said the campus itself will remain open for students and staff.
“Our food services, our residence halls will be open,” he told MetroNews. “We know that some students will stay here and some students will choose to leave. They are free to come back during the online, non face-to-face period.”
Regular, online-only classes are not suspended and will continue as scheduled March 16-20.
Marshall University officials said it is anticipated the university will return to normal academic operations on April 13, or when university officials determine it is safe to resume in-person instruction.
“We plan on having face to face classes the last two weeks of April but that could change,” Gilbert said. “If it were to change, we would notify the students that we are continuing with the non face-to-face if that were the decision.”
He said the biggest concern isn’t the dates of in-person classes right now but the health of everyone at Marshall.
“We don’t want them contracting the virus and spreading it to the families, to people who might be more vulnerable to this virus. We are doing this out of concern and looking at the safety and well-being of our employees.”