The uncertainty around the remainder of our academic year is a nail-biting experience for many. With the fall semester coming to an end, many students are wondering what next semester will look like. It is important for TAMUT students to understand precautions that will still be in place and how our campus will look in the spring semester. Will there be any face to face courses? Can we have events again? Is there any chance random COVID testing will be implemented? Students want to know as much detail as they can about what the remainder of our academic year will look like. There are many faculty and staff members working tirelessly to make sure our campus is safe and covid free.
There are many members of the COVID assessment team who assess our school amidst the pandemic. One of the key personnel during this time is Jill Whittington, compliance and risk management director. Whittington is the one who contacts all students when needing to be tested, of any on campus exposures, or quarantine updates. Many students have had their own sets of questions throughout this semester, some have been answered but others may have gone unanswered.
- What will next semester look like? Will things remain the same as this semester or will there be changes?
- “As things stand right now, Spring Semester 2021 will be very similar to Fall 2020. Guidance about COVID-19 is always changing, but right now we do not anticipate any drastic changes with how the campus will operate even though cases continue to surge. Mask usage and social distancing will continue to be required. Testing will still be available. Many classes will still be remote and instructors will be doing their best to manage student learning when quarantines and isolations have to occur to contain the spread of COVID-19 on campus. A lot of work was done by the COVID-19 team to manage our cases through the fall, and that will continue. And the students and employees were great to work with – no one wants to be in quarantine or ill. But everyone pitched in and we have a relatively successful containment on campus. We had no known spread within a class, in the cafeteria, in the Rec Center or through student org activities. We did have a few cases among athletics which, while disappointing, was not a complete surprise. The unmasked, close proximity and contact during sports was the most likely way to spread and we did see some of that. It just reinforces the importance of wearing a mask and being a little more physically distant – it really works. We will continue to ask everyone to be very diligent about monitoring their own well being and staying home if they’re not 100%. Waking up with that scratchy throat or slight fever is a sign that something may be starting. We are very fortunate to have free and easy oral COVID-19 testing on campus and everyone should be taking advantage of it when they’ve been exposed or aren’t feeling quite right,” Whittington stated.
- Will our campus implement random COVID testing?
- “The COVID-19 task force has considered random COVID-19 testing a couple times through the fall semester. We never eliminated it from consideration, but never found the right time or justification. Some of the larger System campuses are doing random testing, but it is very labor intensive. Since we do not have a full Health Center, it is difficult for us to organize efforts like that. And we have a significant number of students who are all distance-learning. We are currently beginning the planning of very visible testing campaigns for when we return in January to make sure that everyone is healthy at the beginning of the semester. It will be important that students, and employees too, really be careful about their activities during the holidays so as to minimize the spread. Those last couple weeks in January before returning should be thought of as a mini-quarantine so that everyone is sure they come back well,” Whittington stated.
- Will we be able to have more events on campus next semester?
- “Campus events have happened through Fall 2020 semester and as things stand now, will continue through the Spring. We have learned what it takes to remain safe and several organizations have started planning smaller scale events. Student Life has done a great job trying to plan activities that can be done via Zoom and outdoors, where it is safer. During the cooler months, it will be harder to have activities outdoors. But I have full faith in their creativity! Each event or activity does have to be reviewed – this happens anyway to look for any (normal non-COVID) risks and planning steps needed. But then once it clears the normal reviews, a team of staff and faculty also look through the plans to ensure that COVID-19 precautions have been taken. Unfortunately the larger events will probably continue to be restricted – things like full attendance to basketball games. But the new Student Life area should be open by the time students return in Spring and I’m sure having a new ‘home’ for them will help bring a little more life back to campus,” Whittington stated.
- Will there be any face to face courses in the spring?
- “The University has worked to strike the balance between those wanting face-to-face classes and those wanting remote. This goes for students and faculty. Some programs really need to be face-to-face, and some are required. Others can function a bit easier in a remote environment. Data from TAMUT and across the country is starting to show that many students tend to be more successful in the face-to-face environment so we will be working to make those options available as much as possible. But we need to be sure that we are protecting those individuals that need to be remote due to their own personal situation. And of course this is all based on the government guidelines and restrictions as we know them now. As the pandemic has continued to spread and cases increase, we never know what steps may be necessary to contain it. We are making sure that students and faculty have the tools ready to take classes online if necessary, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can keep pushing through and have a successful Spring 2021,” Whittington stated.
Our campus is trying to implement as much normalcy as possible while staying within COVID guidelines. This pandemic has changed many things including the way things are done on our campus. However, as we are trying to slowly incorporate more events on campus it is important to follow all guidelines provided by our campus. Stopping the spread will allow us to be one step closer to how things used to be. “Please understand that being asked to quarantine because you were exposed is not ‘punishment.’ It’s frustrating and difficult and can lead to disappointment when you have to miss something. But it is important. You’re being asked to isolate because you were exposed and may be sick but not realize it! People are contagious 2 days before they have symptoms. So by quarantining you limit how many people you expose to YOUR illness even before you know you’re sick. And it can take up to 14 days for that illness to develop. So quarantining really is important – stay home, stay away from roommates, and totally isolate when asked,” Whittington stated.
Links to learn more about our campus and COVID-19: