Brothers, I know you must be wondering what PSU’s plans are for the Fall 2020 semester in light of recent developments regarding COVID-19. The following is sourced from PSU’s website:
“Following a three-month comprehensive planning process, Penn State officials have determined that the University can meet or exceed the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s guidelines for colleges and universities, and look forward to welcoming back faculty, staff and students to resume on-campus, in-person classes and other activities this fall in a limited fashion.
The fall semester will begin as originally scheduled on Monday, Aug. 24, but campus-based, residential instruction will end Friday, Nov. 20, with the remainder of the semester — including final examinations — being delivered remotely and online when classes resume after Thanksgiving break on Nov. 30. Some units, such as Dickinson Law and Penn State Law, have different start dates and will also begin as originally scheduled. To minimize travel and lower the risk of possibly spreading coronavirus on campuses, classes will be held on Labor Day (Sept. 7). The semester will end following finals on Dec. 18, as originally planned. In a phased approach, the University will begin to bring certain employees back to campus this summer to prepare campuses for the return of students in the fall.
“I am pleased that the hard work of our task groups over the last few months has led us to this plan that will allow us to bring our campus communities back together,” said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. “The Penn State experience may look somewhat different this fall, but I am very much looking forward to seeing our campuses busy with students, faculty and staff once again. I know I speak for the leadership at each of our campuses when I say we are looking forward to welcoming our students back and greeting, for the first time, our new students.”
Penn State will begin to have students and employees return to campuses in phases, starting this summer, and will have comprehensive prevention and public health procedures and strategies in place — including mask-wearing and social distancing — to protect the health and safety of students and employees — the overarching priority in resuming on-campus work and learning activities.
A robust testing and contact-tracing program will test symptomatic individuals and conduct asymptomatic testing on individuals who are identified in the contact-tracing process. Penn State will hire additional staff to serve as contact tracers as needed to support all campuses and plans to enhance access to early health-care consultation and treatment. Contact-tracing supports detection of cases and is designed to help prevent future outbreaks. The University also is building capacity to isolate and quarantine impacted individuals, including support for isolated persons, to facilitate proper medical care.
These measures and ongoing analysis of county, state and local disease data, will allow Penn State officials to monitor the potential spread of the virus across the University and respond to any changes in the pandemic that would require proactive steps to mitigate and manage any potential outbreak.
More information will be released throughout the summer about the University’s plans.”
To read the article on the website, CLICK HERE. For the latest updates on the coronavirus CLICK HERE. For updates on the Fall 2020 Schedule, CLICK HERE.
