MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University officials believe there is too much risk in bringing students back to campus after Thanksgiving break to finish the fall semester.
Rob Alsop, the WVU Vice President for Strategic Initiatives detailed WVU’s announced plan to have students finish the semester online in light of the possibility of another round of COVID-19.
“One of the things we are most concerned about is when everybody comes back to town, they are going to bring the COVID with them. We think a repatriation again after a Thanksgiving break would bring too much risk,” Alsop said.
According to officials, the fall semester would begin in Morgantown, at Potomac State in Keyser and at WVU Tech in Beckley on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Students would remain on campus until Nov. 24, take a few days off for Thanksgiving, and then finish the fall semester online, which would include a final week of regular classes and final exams.
The next time students would be back on campus is the beginning of the spring semester on January 19, 2021. Alsop said the difference between a return after Thanksgiving break and January 19 is giving the university more time to learn about the virus and get more testing done if need be.
Testing for the virus will be required for students, faculty, and staff before the semester begins in August. Alsop said there will be several sites on campus to get tested by swabbing of the lower nose.
“This will be the live virus test and not the antibody test. It will be at no cost to our students and our employees. We are working with WVU Hospitals and the National Guard as well as folks in the private sector to ramp that up,” he said.
.@WestVirginiaU Vice President @jrobalsop talks with @HoppyKercheval about WVU’s plans for the fall semester amidst pandemic recovery. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/UIfWh3AQ9P
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) June 4, 2020
Masks will be required to be worn on campus including in class. Alsop said the university will try to keep classroom density at 50 percent including mixing in flex hybrid classes of both online and a physical presence.
He said the requirement to wear a mask is for the respect for everyone and those with underlying health conditions. Professors will have the option of having large plexiglass coverings in front of them instead of a mask. There will also be an option to wear a clear mask for the hearing impaired.
“If someone violates that and refuses to wear a mask, they’ll be subject to student conduct discipline at the university,” Alsop said. “We know that is something we will have to work through. We will work with our faculty on how to handle those situations.
“What we are saying is it’s the right thing to do. Nobody wants to be online. Let’s prevent an outbreak, let’s work together.”
Alsop added that WVU’s plans are far from being completed as a steering committee and various task forces continue to meet.
There will be a number of sanitation requirements. Wednesday’s first announcement by the university said before returning to campus, all faculty, staff and students will have to complete a COVID-19 education course. The deadline for completion is Aug. 11.
WVU said it would continue to release more information as it’s developed in the weeks ahead.