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EAST LANSING, MI – Moving classes online and telling Michigan State University students to stay home for the fall semester was the best choice for public health, President Samuel Stanley Jr. said.
“I think time will tell whether this is the right decision or not,” Stanley, a medical doctor, said during a virtual news conference on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
In making the decision, which was announced Aug. 18, Stanley said MSU officials talked to other universities, including the University of Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which started in-person classes, saw outbreaks of COVID-19 and moved classes back online.
“I felt with that data in front of us, where we saw these cases taking place and saw what happened where the number of beds set aside for quarantine or isolation were exhausted quickly (at other universities), that was a situation that we really didn’t want to be in,” Stanley said.
It’s too early now to decide if the spring semester will be in-person, he said.
Michigan State University switches fall semester to remote learning, tells students to stay home
Some students will be allowed to live on campus this fall, but it’s too early to tell how many, Stanley said, adding that the number will factor into a decision on future furlough of employees.
Student athletes can choose to stay in the dorms because they’ll have fall workouts, Stanley said. Students who don’t have access to Wi-Fi at home also would qualify for moving into the dorms, and an application for those students is being created, Deputy Spokesperson Dan Olsen said.
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“All of the things we put in place to try to keep a larger number of students safe will be applied now,” Stanley said. “That includes the focus on mask wearing and following the executive orders for the number of students who can be in a social gathering, for example. … It will look pretty different.”
Meals from the cafeterias will most likely be grab-and-go only. An app to pre-order from the cafeterias is in development, Stanley said. Resident assistants will still be on campus.
“Testing is not an unlimited commodity, so we’re thinking very hard about how to use the tests we have, the most effectively to allow us to identify outbreaks we have and try to interrupt transmission,” Stanley said.
Classes, such as laboratories and music classes needed for students to graduate, will be in-person, Stanley said. Graduate students may also have in-person classes.
It’s unclear how many MSU students will live in off-campus housing for the fall semester, Stanley said. Students are asked to return home or stay home, but Stanley said he’s assuming there will be students who stay in East Lansing.
Greek Life will likely agree to a pledge with MSU which says they will not have social gatherings, Stanley said. Per their by-laws, they must wait a week before deciding, he said.
“We’re still saying to people, ‘Not only are you responsible for following this on-campus, we’re holding you responsible for following this off-campus as well,’” Stanley said. “If your municipality has a mask ordinance, we except you to behave that way, to comply with that.”
If East Lansing identifies students who are not complying with ordinances related to the novel coronavirus, MSU wants to know who they are, Stanley said. The university will look to see if the student judicial system can have an impact, he said.
MSU will talk to landlords in the area about understanding the financial burden some students might be facing with a year-long lease and no in-person classes for at least the fall semester. Since those are private companies, MSU can’t force them to make concessions, Stanley said.
“My hope is the landlords in the area will be receptive to students who are caught … by this,” Stanley said. “But ultimately, again, we’re talking about safety we wanted to make a decision we felt was best for the campus.”
Stanley said he understands students are disappointed, but being on campus is just one part of being a MSU student. Other students and a world-class faculty are a big part of the experience, which students still have access to, he said.
It’s likely that some students will decide not to attend MSU this fall because of the move to remote learning, but it’s too early to know how many people that is, Stanley said.
“Michigan State University provides an extraordinary education,” he said. “You will be getting our best faculty and my hope is people will stay the course, recognizing that this is a very special place. And, recognizing the decision we made is being shared by some of the great institutions around the country.”
Undergraduate classes begin Wednesday, Sept. 2.
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