West Conn Academic Affairs is considering the full range of teaching possibilities for the fall semester as online classwork continues through the summer. They will decide between classroom instruction, on-line learning, or a hybrid of online and in-person courses.
All options are being considered by West Conn, in conjunction with the CSCU System Office and the other three Connecticut State Universities. All buildings are being cleaned and disinfected for the eventual return of students, faculty and staff.
The Office of Enrollment Services has extended to June 1st the deadline date by which students commit to attend West Conn. This will allow families to have more time to thoughtfully consider the decision.
The Student Government Association and the offices of Student Affairs and Institutional Advancement have raised money for the Colonial Cares fund to provide financial relief for students in emergency financial situations.
Connecticut’s colleges and universities may open at their discretion, in a phased-in way between May 20 and September 1, with mass COVID-19 testing of students living on residential campuses, under a package of recommendations submitted Wednesday to Gov. Ned Lamont.
The plan, however, depends on certain benchmarks being met, such as a steady decline in hospitalizations in Connecticut and colleges and universities having adequate supplies of tests, face masks and personal protective equipment.
Approximately 190,000 students are enrolled in higher education institutions across Connecticut. They employ about 45,000 people.
“For residential institutions, we are recommending that a screening of everyone, testing of everyone, when they come in the fall, and isolating those who test positive and depending on what the public health thinking is at that time,” said Rick Levin, former president of Yale University and co-chairman of the higher education subcommittee of Lamont’s reopening advisory committee. Levin said there may be a second round of testing and more random screenings during the course of the school year.
Under the proposed guidelines, institutions will be free to decide whether they need more time for certain programs to restart.
The suggested timeline for reopening calls for research programs to restart beginning May 20; nonresidential workforce programs and nonresidential clinical/laboratory courses required to complete degrees in the beginning of June; other nonresidential programs, graduate programs and undergraduate residential programs on a small-scale pilot basis starting July and August; and the bulk of undergraduate residential programs and K-12 boarding schools to begin opening Sept. 1.
The guidelines also recommend various social distancing measures, such as 6 feet of separation when possible in classrooms and dining halls, requirements for wearing face masks and providing single-occupancy dorm rooms for students with preexisting medical conditions.
“Given the heterogeneity of our colleges and universities, one size won’t fit all, which is why we need carefully tailored guidelines for differing parts of this sector. This framework to reopen our higher education institutions is a vital component of our overall plan to reopen Connecticut,” Lamont said in a written statement.
