COVID-19: Penn State’s fall semester to see full in-person learning
Signs for the walk-up COVID 19 testing site for Penn State students and employees at the Hintz Alumni Center on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.
Penn State is planning to return to a “full on-campus learning environment” by the fall with expanded in-person classes, in another notable step toward normalcy.
The university announced Wednesday that it will phase in its return by transitioning to more in-person classes over the summer, using event spaces and outdoor tents as potential locations. The fall is then expected to more closely resemble Penn State’s usual in-person instructional experience.
“Making detailed decisions now about the future mode of educational offerings for our university is not an easy task given all the unknowns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in a written statement. “However, with vaccines becoming more available and the expectation that public health guidelines will reflect progress, we are optimistic that we can begin to safely transition during the summer and move toward a full in-person experience this fall while doing all that we can to keep our students, employees and local communities as safe and healthy as possible.”
The summer will continue to utilize Penn State’s four modes of instruction — in-person, mixed, remote live (synchronous) and remote taped (asynchronous). But those modes are expected to be mostly discontinued, in favor of the usual web/in-person classes, by the fall.
With 600 million doses of the vaccine expected nationally by July, Dr. Anthony Fauci expressed optimism earlier this month that every American — even those healthy and young — will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by summer’s end. Still, Penn State’s president was quick to add that it will change its plans if needed.
“We are fully prepared, as we have been in the past, to pivot in response to changing pandemic conditions,” Barron said. “However, we are excited at the prospect of coming back together again, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing our vibrant community of students, faculty and staff fully engaged once again in on-campus life.”
Centre County saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on March 20. Since then, more than 12,000 county residents — and more than 5,000 University Park students — have contracted the coronavirus.
Classes for the fall semester start Aug. 23.
Josh Moyer earned his B.A. in journalism from Penn State and his M.S. from Columbia. He’s been involved in sports and news writing for nearly 20 years. He counts the best athlete he’s ever seen as Tecmo Super Bowl’s Bo Jackson.
