MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Schools are still trying to plan for the fall, and that includes colleges and universities.
Classes in institutions of higher education may look much different by the time next semester arrives.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center was quiet Wednesday like most campuses lately, as learning has mostly been moved online.
“Online classes is really pretty good, but everybody I know is itching to get back in class as quickly as possible,” UTHSC physical therapy student Thomas Ewing said.
The University of Tennessee is making plans for what fall will look like at all its campuses when classes start back. The school released a best practices for reopening report, saying students will not return to campus life like it was before.
Large classes may be totally online, and the school may alternate schedules for in-person instruction. Smaller classes could be in larger spaces to accommodate social distancing.
UT will track in-person attendance carefully to facilitate contract tracing if there is an infection.
UTHSC has also been planning for the coronavirus, beefing up its online learning to more than 500,000 online credit hours.
At the University of Memphis, the planning is underway as well. President M. David Rudd spoke to alumni and supporters virtually Wednesday afternoon.
“We expect differences not only in how we manage delivery of curriculum, how we manage food and dining, how we manage housing, but at the heart of all of those is the safety and health of our faculty staff and students,” Rudd said.
Rudd said students are faring well, and many are still getting support through the school. He said summer enrollment is up 15%.
Rudd also provided some insight on the big question of having athletics in the fall.
“In short, yes, I think we will have a season,” Rudd said. “I think you will see some movement in the next weeks what the expectations and guidance are both at the conference level as NCAA level in terms of returning athletes to campus. It will mirror the expectations and guidance of returning students to campus.”
Rudd said more than 2,000 students took part in their virtual graduation ceremony.
The school does plan to have a formal graduation in the future when it is safe