The University of Texas is doubling the length of its spring break — extending it through the week of March 15 — so it can set up online platforms and temporarily replace in-person classes in response to the coronavirus.
In an announcement posted on its website, the city’s largest university said classes will resume March 23 and will be taught online at least through April 13. University leaders will make daily assessments on when to return to classroom instruction.
“During that time, students are encouraged to stay at home if possible,” the statement reads. “The university recognizes, however, that campus housing is…home to many students and they are welcome to return.”
The university’s drastic move comes as the World Health Organization officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and as a top federal health official warned Americans’ lives must change in response.
“We would like the country to realize that as a nation, we can’t be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases warned Wednesday. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in a state that has no cases or one case.”
Shortly after UTSA posted its announcement, Trinity University President Danny Anderson circulated an email to students on that campus announcing it would close all residential halls and conduct classes online for the rest of the spring semester.
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This article appears in Mar 11-24, 2020.
