TCU going online-only for summer courses during coronavirus crisis, with a twist
Joining a growing list of universities around the nation, TCU is going to an online-only format for summer courses amid lingering concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the school said Thursday.
The university said it is facing the same uncertainties for the summer courses as it did when transitioning to online-only for the spring semester last month. However, TCU is adjusting its approach by offering fully online courses and what it’s calling “hybrid” online courses for the summer.
Students work independently in traditional online courses, but the “hybrid” courses will have students attending virtual sessions with other students.
“These courses offer students an interactive experience with faculty members and their peers as they progress through the course,” said Kate Marshall, TCU’s distance learning director in the Koehler Center for Instruction.
TCU said registration for summer and fall courses begins April 20.
“Although we don’t have every detail to share with you yet, we are in the process of reviewing and confirming current course offerings, and also exploring the possibility of adding courses to help keep you on-track with your degree plan,” Teresa Abi-Nader Dahlberg, TCU’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, wrote in a news release.
TCU had to make a decision on the summer courses to allow professors and faculty enough time to prepare and formulate a way to provide the curriculum.
The University of Texas, the University of Florida and LSU are among several schools that announced last week that their summer courses would be online-only.
TCU has seen two positive cases of coronavirus on its campus since the outbreak — a contracted construction worker who had been working on the football stadium’s east-side expansion and a student, although both have recovered.
As of Thursday, the school said there are “zero positive COVID-19 cases on the TCU campus.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:01 PM.
