On Monday, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became the first major college to go online amid coronavirus pandemic. It pivoted to online classes a week after reopening in-person classes.
The university started courses in person on August 10 and reported outbreaks of COVID019 infection in student living spaces, promoting the university to go online.
UNC-Chapel Hill was one of the largest universities to bring students back to campus for in-person classes.
In a message to the campus, the university’s chancellor, Kevin Guskiewicz, and executive vice chancellor, Robert Blouin, wrote, “As much as we believe we have worked diligently to help create a healthy and safe campus living and learning environment, we believe the current data presents an untenable situation. The health and safety of our campus community are paramount.”
In the past week, UNC’s campus reported 130 student cases of COVID-19, a significant surge in the week after the university started in-person classes.
“We expect the majority of our current undergraduate residential students to change their residential plans for the fall,” Guskiewicz and Blouin said in their statement.
Many students had already moved out, while some are more likely to move out. Students can request a cancellation for their on-campus housing assignment. They will not be charged housing fees if it is granted.
However, some aspects of university life are expected to continue. Student-athletes will attend online classes, but “workouts and practices will continue under the standards set by our university, health officials and department,” tweeted the athletic department. “We are still expecting to play this fall.”
Barbara Rimer, the dean of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, has called for a switch to remote operations.
In a blog post, she said, “The number of clusters is growing and soon could become out of control. It is time for an off-ramp. We have tried to make this work, but it is not working.”
Guskiewicz said he discussed the university’s plans with local health officials. He said the UNC system had decided that all its universities would reopen for in-person classes for the fall semester. “Soon after, I discussed this matter with the UNC System and we were advised by the UNC System to stay the course with our current plan,” Guskiewicz said.
