UArizona to offer most classes online to start spring semester
Jan 5, 2021, 5:00 PM
PHOENIX — The University of Arizona will offer a majority of its classes online to start the spring semester because of continued high coronavirus case numbers, university officials announced Tuesday.
Only about 3,900 of the 46,000 enrolled students will be on campus for what UArizona considers essential courses in stage one of its campus reentry plan.
The Tucson university employed the same strategy at the start of the fall semester due to the pandemic.
The spring semester begins Jan. 13.
“Getting through this semester, even with the vaccine rolling out, we’ll have to follow the same playbook we did in the fall semester for the spring semester,” UArizona President Robert Robbins said in a press release. “And then hopefully for next fall semester, we’ll be back to more like normal.”
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Move-in for students living in the dorms is Friday and testing will be mandatory for residents upon arrival.
The university will also require weekly testing for students who are living in dorms or are enrolled in essential courses.
UArizona is hoping to have the ability to test up to 3,000 people per day because of its new saline gargle PCR test.
Robbins said the university will continue to monitor COVID-19 numbers across campus and Pima County throughout the semester to see if more in-person learning can be conducted.
