The University of Arizona said students will be able to complete the fall semester from home after Thanksgiving break.
The update comes from the UA’s coronavirus page, which states, “After much discussion, deliberation, and review of peer University plans, we have made the decision to allow our students to continue their semester at home following the Thanksgiving break.”
The university also plans to deliver “all finals review and testing in an online modality,” according to the UA coronavirus page.
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The last update of the UA’s coronavirus page was Friday, June 19 at 1:33 p.m. However, some members of the UA community expressed through social media that they were unaware of the update.
Voices of Indigenous Concerns in Education, or VOICE, tweeted a screenshot of the update, asking the university “when were you planning to let us know?”
This policy decision was alluded to in the UA’s Reentry Task Force update Thursday, June 18, when public information officer Nancy Montoya asked President Dr. Robert Robbins if “there has been any discussion here at the university” on whether students would be returning from Thanksgiving break to finish out the semester in person.
“Provost [Liesl] Folks and the leadership has figured out a way that when students complete classes before the break, they could go back and finished the semester out in a digital format,” Robbins said.
The full Reentry Task Force update is available on the UA’s YouTube channel, and this specific discussion is 56:14 into the video.
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Initially, the language from UA’s coronavirus page and statements from Robbins at Thursday’s Reentry Task Force press conference left it unclear as to whether all students will complete the semester remotely following Thanksgiving or whether it is merely an option.
However, Robbins’ university reentry briefing email sent late Monday afternoon spoke further on the decision and seemed to clear things up.
“In addition, the Provost’s teams have considered many early opening and closing formats and settled on adopting an end to in-person classes following the Thanksgiving break,” Robbins said in the email. “The final eight days of instruction, as well as final exams and assessments, will all be delivered in online or other remote modes to allow students to remain at home until the start of the Spring semester if they choose to do so, thus reducing travel and in-person interactions.”
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