TCU examining different scenarios for fall semester amid coronavirus pandemic
Several colleges across the country, including the University of Texas and Rice, have already announced plans for shortened fall semesters by eliminating fall breaks and ending in-person classes by Thanksgiving.
The thought process is to limit student travel and get ahead of a potential “second wave” of the coronavirus expected to hit next winter.
TCU has not made a decision whether to implement similar measures, the school said in a statement to the Star-Telegram on Thursday night.
“TCU has not made any changes to the 2020-2021 academic calendar at this time,” the statement read. “We have announced our fall semester will start in August. As part of our continuity planning, TCU is examining a variety of scenarios to ensure a safe campus environment for our students, faculty and staff.”
TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. told staff and faculty in an email last month that the plan was to start in-person fall classes on Aug. 24.
Fall break is scheduled from Oct. 7-11 and students will have the entire Thanksgiving week off (Nov. 23-29). Classes would resume after the Thanksgiving break on Nov. 30 with finals the week of Dec. 14.
Those plans are subject to change, especially with a growing number of schools canceling fall break and ending the fall semester earlier than normal. Along with Texas and Rice, other schools to adopt a similar shortened schedule include Purdue, Notre Dame, South Carolina, San Diego, Creighton, North Carolina, NC State, North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State.
“This was done to minimize the mass exit and return of students these breaks created,” Purdue University said in a statement earlier this week.
Said South Carolina president Bob Caslen in a message to faculty, staff and students: “Our best current modeling predicts a spike in cases of Covid-19 at the beginning of December, which also will likely coincide with traditional flu season.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 6:53 PM.
