West Virginia University administrators assured students returning to its three campuses this fall that safeguards have been put in place to prevent a potential outbreak or spread of COVID-19.
In a remote forum Thursday afternoon with local media, WVU administrators said 42,000 masks — many of them branded with the WVU logo — have been ordered for both students and faculty. Masks will be required not only in classrooms, but also outside the classroom on the Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser campuses.
“We will need you to work with us,” Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Maryanne Reed said.
WVU announced on-site classes will begin Aug. 19, five months after the three campuses were closed to the public in March because of the pandemic. Classroom instruction was then switched to online lectures. Also, faculty members will have the option of delivering lectures behind a Plexiglas screen, she said.
Students will remain on campus through Nov. 24 and then leave for Thanksgiving break. They will not return to campus for the rest of the fall semester. There will be one week of online instruction following Thanksgiving and finals will be held online.
Spring semester starts Jan. 19.
Reed said classroom density will be decreased by 50%, either by staggering on-site attendance dates or having a portion of the instruction delivered online. WVU is also renting out the Metropolitan Theatre so students can social distance. Details should be worked out by June 30.
“It’s a big space,” she said of the downtown theater.
Dean of Students Corey Farris said there are not enough rooms available on the campuses for everyone to have a single room. But, he said, students who have the residential experience in college tend to excel in the classroom more often than those who do not.
“We have to have a partnership,” Farris said.
Students who do not wear masks could be referred to the WVU Office of Student Conduct. Classroom instructors also have the option of enforcing the mask requirement.
“We’re going to have a lot of PPEs,” said Rob Alsop, WVU’s vice president of Strategic Initiatives. “We will have an ample supply of face coverings.”
Prior to returning to classrooms on Aug. 19, students, as well as faculty and staff, will be required to complete a COVID-19 education course by Aug. 11. There will also be mandatory testing for COVID-19 for all students, faculty and staff before returning to campus in the fall.
“We know we’re going to have to live with positive cases and outbreaks,” Alsop said. “We’re trying to add safeguards.”
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