West Chester, Rutgers move to online classes to prepare for COVID-19

The two schools are among several in the country that have moved in-person classes to online.

This story is developing.

On Tuesday, West Chester University and Rutgers University announced all in-person classes will be moved to online instruction after several cases of COVID-19 were reported in Pennsylvania this week.

While students are on spring break, West Chester’s faculty will spend the next two weeks preparing courses for online purposes, according to an email obtained by The Temple News. Summer and fall registration, as well as remote advising, will also be prepared to be remote.

Courses will resume through online instruction on March 30 when spring break ends, the email said.

“Out of an abundance of concern for the continued good health of our community, the University has made the decision to move to alternate modes of instruction for the remainder of the spring semester,” West Chester President Christopher M. Fiorentino wrote in the email.

West Chester’s residence halls and on-campus apartments will be closed and the university’s Office of Residence Life will contact students when to collect their belongings, the email stated.

Rutgers has canceled classes from March 12 to the end of spring break on March 22, according to a tweet by the university. The following Monday, on March 23, all courses will be administered online.

The shifts to online courses follow the 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania. Today, one case was confirmed in Philadelphia.

Temple told students and faculty to prepare for the possibility of moving classes to an online format, the university announced on Monday. 

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the University of Pennsylvania is also considering moving to online instruction, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported. 

Rowan University extended its spring break by one week, until March 30, to allow university administration more time to prepare, the Courier Post reported.

Bucknell University has suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the semester, ABC27 reported. Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences will hold its classes online until the end of next week, ABC27 reported.

1 Comment

  1. Hopefully Temple leadership will act quickly. Waiting only increase likelihood of spreading the disease. Really thought we would have heard something by tonight.

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