Temple University will hold a mix of in-person and virtual classes for the Spring 2021 semester, President Richard Englert announced Monday.
A majority of classes will be held virtually, but the university will expand the number of courses taught in person to include more than just those requiring “critical hands-on training and experiential learning.” In-person courses will continue to be held in the university’s de-densified classrooms, labs and studios, according to the announcement.
Main Campus buildings like residence halls, Charles Library, the TECH Center and Campus Recreation will remain open for in-person use throughout the spring semester, according to the announcement. Students on and off campus will still be expected to follow the university’s four public health pillars throughout the spring semester: wearing face coverings, social distancing, self-monitoring and washing their hands.
Temple will publish the Spring 2021 course schedule today, and has pushed the start of priority registration to Nov. 16, according to the announcement.
The announcement comes after the university delayed the start of the spring semester to Jan. 19, 2021 and canceled its planned spring break on Oct. 26, The Temple News reported.
The Morgan Hall testing center will continue to test people with COVID-19 symptoms and people have been in contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, according to the announcement. Temple will test students living in residence halls, students doing in-person courses or clinical rotations twice a week throughout the spring semester. Faculty and staff with in-person work who routinely interact with students will be eligible to be tested twice a week.
Employees and students who are commuting to campus regularly for facilities and services and students living adjacent to Main Campus will be eligible to be tested for COVID-19 once a week.
Temple will release information about COVID-19 testing for students leaving campus Nov. 20, the last day of fall in-person operations of Main Campus, and priority testing will be given to students taking in-person classes and students living in university housing. The university will also send out information for students about how to depart from residence halls.
The university will require anyone who has been identified by Temple’s Contact Tracing Unit as positive for COVID-19 to isolate and their close contacts will also have to isolate for 14 days. Temple has a designated isolation and quarantine space for students in residence halls or off-campus housing.
Temple has contingency plans for the spring if conditions change and is willing to deviate plans if necessary, according to the announcement.
Be the first to comment