Colleges are seeing spring semester plans upended by a new wave of Covid-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant. Some are moving back to remote classes while others are standing firm but with tightened restrictions.
or trying to restrict student travel. Many, including the University of Texas at Austin and multiple California State University campuses, are pivoting to virtual instruction for at least the first few weeks of the term.
Two weeks later—a day after residence halls reopened—the school said it would stay online until Jan. 24 instead.Photo:“This is uncharted territory for all of us,” University of California, Davis Chancellor Gary S. May said in a video message last week explaining the school’s plan to start the term online and keep classes remote until Jan. 28. “We will continue to need your patience and understanding.
Yale University has called for a campuswide quarantine through the first week of February, asking that even if students’ initial Covid-19 test results are negative, they not go to local businesses, restaurants or bars—even for outdoor dining—until the semester is further under way. Some schools are tightening mask-wearing rules to include vaccinated individuals, and many that already required vaccinations for students and staff have tacked on a mandate that they get booster shots. On-campus testing is picking up pace again, too.
Dartmouth College began its winter term on Jan. 4. With a vaccination rate over 97%, the school currently has 550 active cases among students, faculty and staff, according to the school’s Covid-19 dashboard. Nearly one in 10 tests are coming back positive. Last week, Provost Susan M. Collins told faculty and graduate instructors that going remote for a couple of weeks “would be arbitrary.” She wrote, “It is unclear what will be better two weeks from now.”
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