California State U. System Will Conduct Most Fall Classes Online
The California State University system will conduct the majority of its classes online this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, its chancellor said on Tuesday.
With experts forecasting more waves of Covid-19 infections in the summer and fall, Chancellor Timothy P. White told California State trustees that it would be irresponsible to bring the system’s nearly 500,000 students back to its 23 campuses in the fall.
Even if fall classes started in person, White said, they would very likely have to be scaled back in the event of a second wave. He said planning for online instruction now “preserves as many options for as many students as possible.”
White said that on-campus housing will be reduced, and that a few campus activities will still take place. Some hands-on learning experiences, like an engineering capstone project or using specialized equipment, will still be available with intense precautions.
“Anything done on a campus this fall won’t be as it was in the past,” he said.
He said university officials are planning for a worst-case scenario — and he added that he hopes the university can conduct limited, safe on-campus operations. He called the pandemic a “new and expensive reality.
Colleges across the country are scrambling to decide what their fall semesters will look like. Many are planning entirely for in-person, on-campus instruction – while others, like California State, are looking at online or hybrid options.
Efforts to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus are moving at a dizzying pace, but even the most optimistic estimates say that such a stride is unlikely by the start of fall semester. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, said at a Senate health-committee hearing on Tuesday that a vaccine remains distant.
“The idea of having treatments available, or a vaccine, to facilitate the re-entry of students into the fall term would be something of a bit of a bridge too far,” Fauci said. “Even at the top speed we’re going, we don’t see a vaccine playing in the ability of individuals to get back to school this term.”
