- Some colleges and universities transitioned online after initially starting the semester with in-person classes.
- While some schools switched online for the rest of the semester, others have done so only temporarily, before returning to in-person classes.
Some colleges and universities have transitioned online, either temporarily or for the duration of the semester, after seeing coronavirus cases spike in their on-campus populations.
Here are eight colleges and universities that transitioned online because COVID cases went up.
The University of North Carolina (UNC)
All UNC undergraduate classes went virtual after the first week of classes when their COVID case rate jumped from 2.8% to 13.6%, The Daily Tar Heel reported on August 17. (RELATED: More Than 20,000 Coronavirus Cases Have Been Counted At Colleges Since Late July: Report)
BREAKING: One week into the semester, UNC-Chapel Hill announces that it is transitioning all undergraduate classes to fully online instruction, effective Wednesday.
Story to come. Check this thread soon.
— The Daily Tar Heel (@dailytarheel) August 17, 2020
Graduate, health affairs and professional schools can either keep teaching their courses according to how they were or in accordance with the individual schools’ direction, the Tar Heel reported.
The University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame announced on August 18 that all undergraduate in-person classes would be online until Sept.2 and graduate and professional classes until August 24, according to a Notre Dame News statement.
As of noon on August 18, 147 out of 927 people who tested since August 3 were positive. Classes started August 10, according to the academic calendar.(RELATED: University Of Notre Dame Distances From Lou Holtz’s ‘Catholics In Name Only’ Comments At RNC)
In-person undergraduate courses began returning in stages starting September 2 after new case numbers began to go down since August 18, according to another school statement. The positivity case rate is also reportedly going down.
The University of Notre Dame did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
North Carolina State University (NCSU)
Classes started August 10, but undergraduate classes moved online August 24, NCSU spokesman Mick Kulikowski told the DCNF, adding that the “campus is open; libraries, the student union and dining facilities will remain open” and some graduate classes are currently meeting in-person.
“As of yesterday (August 25), there have been 546 positive cases – 501 students and 45 employees,” Kulikowski told the DCNF.
The school announced Wednesday that students living on-campus, unless exempted, must move out because of an increase in COVID cases, according to a school statement. Prorated refunds from lack of dining and residence hall use in the fall semester will be issued to students.
Bloomsburg University
Bloomsburg University said on August 27 that classes would go virtual on August 31 after seeing the number of cases go up, according to an announcement. Classes began August17, university spokesman Tom McGuire confirmed to the DCNF, adding that a quarter of classes were in-person. (RELATED: Penn State Fraternities Suspended For Breaking COVID Rules)
Exceptions can be granted “on a case-by-case basis,” such as labs, according to the announcement.
Effective Monday, Aug. 31, we will shift all instruction to remote learning for all courses in progress. A determination regarding classes scheduled to begin on Wednesday, Oct. 7, will be made no later than Monday, Sept. 21 ➡ https://t.co/dVMKiysOAZ pic.twitter.com/FLapqTVcGt
— Bloomsburg University (@BloomsburgU) August 27, 2020
The State University Of New York (SUNY) Oneonta
SUNY Oneonta transitioned classes online for two weeks after 105 students tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a school statement. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent “a SWAT team” to help the school to deal with a coronavirus cluster, according to a Sunday press release.
Cuomo announced that any New York college with 100 cases or if 5% of the population has the virus, then the college will have to transition to remote learning for two weeks with limited on-campus activities, according to a press release. SUNY Oneonta’s classes started on Aug. 24, according to the college calendar.
The two-week pause will begin at 9 p.m. today and last until Sept. 13. Please read the following message for more details: https://t.co/naQbebP3Q0
— SUNY Oneonta (@SUNY_Oneonta) August 30, 2020
Temple University
Temple University said Sunday that all classes would be online from August 31 until September 11, according to a university announcement. The school reported 58 active COVID cases August 28 and on Auust. 30, the school reported “103 active cases” of the virus after doing “more than 5,000 tests in the last two weeks,” according to the university announcement.
“Contract tracing by the university and the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health continues, but the information so far has led the city to believe that small social gatherings are the concern,” Associate Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Communications Raymond Betzner told the DCNF and added the information led Philadelphia to issue virus guidance.
“Roughly 75 percent of graduate and undergraduate courses were online,” Betzner told the DCNF.
Full term and “7-week courses” began August 24, according to the school’s academic calendar. Classes online won’t be affected, “the dean of a school or college” will deem which classes need to be in-person for the two weeks and the students in the classes will be contacted, according to the university announcement.
James Madison University
James Madison University announced Tuesday that all in-person classes will be “primarily online” by Labor Day until the end of September, according to a school statement. Certain classes will be on a hybrid plan. Unless students look to get an exemption, those living on the campus were told to leave by September7.
The decision comes after the school consulted with the Virginia Department of Health, according to the school statement. The school will decide by September 25 about returning to in-person classes either after or on October 5. There was a variety “of in-person, hybrid, and online classes,” according to the school statement.
Some graduate classes and the majority of undergraduate classes, except the exceptions, will be online, university spokeswoman Caitlyn Read told the DCNF. She confirmed that freshman dorms opened August 21 and all classes started August 26.
Lock Haven University
“The first day of classes was August 24. Currently, all LHU classes are online until September 21,” Executive Director of Strategic Communications Elizabeth Arnold told the DCNF.
The school decided to transition online September 1 and there were “40 positive cases with a 4.9% positivity rate”on that date, Arnold told the DCNF, referring to the school’s virus dashboard.
“The first two positive cases were reported on August 24,” Arnold continued.
The school announced that they will transition fully remote September 2 for around two weeks because the number of positive cases went up, according to a press release provided to the DCNF.
Neil Shah contributed to this report.
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