USC (Southern California) announced this morning this fall semester classes will be “primarily or exclusively” online.
Here is an excerpt of the letter USC sent out to students:
Greetings Trojan Community,
The once-in-a-century COVID-19 pandemic has altered every aspect of our lives – the way we interact, work, and socialize – and with each new permutation of the pandemic, we must find ways to thrive. The fall semester will be a completely new and different experience. We will overcome the challenges by drawing on the creativity of our faculty, staff, and students, and create a semester that delivers on our commitment to supporting outstanding education, research, and service.
Four pillars underlining our work are to ensure:
safety (e.g., testing, tracing, facilities upgrades, and medical care);
excellence (e.g., impactful learning, new ways to engage, career services for a new era);
flexibility (e.g., USC at your fingertips, available in every time zone, responsive to individual needs); and
looking forward (e.g., building opportunities that prepare leaders for the future, having the University ready for whatever opportunities or challenges we face).
Today we write to update you on undergraduate classes for fall 2020, including scheduling, and on-campus housing.
Public health guidelines continue to change, and Los Angeles County has yet to approve our plans for returning to full campus operations. Los Angeles is experiencing an alarming spike in coronavirus cases, making it clear we need to dramatically reduce our on-campus density and all indoor activities for the fall semester.
Indeed, the Governor of California issued an order today (based on a 52 percent increase state-wide in COVID-19 hospitalizations in just 14 days), severely restricting indoor activities in a variety of businesses. While we are still processing this new information, we know some of you have July 1 deadlines for leases off campus – so we wanted to get this information to you to help with your decision-making.
Given the continuing safety restrictions and limited densities permissible on campus, our undergraduate students primarily or exclusively will be taking their courses online in the fall term, and on-campus housing and activities will be limited. While not what we hoped, we are now recommending all undergraduates take their courses online, and reconsider living on or close to campus this semester. We are continuing with limited in-person, on-campus activity because we believe we can keep students, researchers, staff, and faculty safe with our low-density plan.
Complete Letter
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What will this mean for fall athletics, particularly football?
