WWU changes its fall classroom plans. Here‘s what that means for students, staff
Western Washington University is scaling back its plan to bring students back to campus for in-person classes this fall because COVID-19 cases are surging in Washington state and the nation.
Sabah Randhawa, WWU president, announced the decision to students and their families in an online post on Thursday, July 30.
“It appears that our nation is in the midst of a significant increase in COVID-19 cases, and it will take time to reverse the trend,” Randhawa wrote.
In May, WWU was considering a hybrid approach for the fall quarter, with about 20% of classes in-person and the rest online.
Now, the plan is to offer 8% to 10% of classes in person for the quarter.
“Given the alarming rise in the number of cases regionally and nationally, we have made the difficult decision — along with many other institutions in Washington and across the nation — to review our face-to-face classes for fall and move most of them to a remote environment, with limited exceptions for some experiential courses that can be taught safely in-person, such as applied performance classes and some hands-on labs,” Randhawa wrote.
He acknowledged that the decision, made for the health and safety of students, employees and the community, may not be what some want to hear.
“I know the prospect of moving more significantly to remote instruction is disappointing to many students and their families, particularly for our new students looking forward to their first year of college life,” Western’s president said in the post. “I too am disappointed and sad that we are not going to have the fall quarter that we were envisioning.”
WWU’s dorms will open as planned but on a limited basis, he added.
Tuition will not be decreased, Randhawa said, adding that “we are setting aside a portion of fall tuition proceeds to reduce the cost of attendance for those with financial need, and beginning this fall term, Western will offer a monthly tuition payment plan so that students can pay tuition in smaller monthly installments.”
Western shifted classes online beginning March 11 to ensure social distancing to curb illness caused by the new coronavirus.
The university has about 16,100 students and 2,463 employees.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 1:20 PM with the headline "WWU changes its fall classroom plans. Here‘s what that means for students, staff."
