Edinboro Goes Online In Face of COVID-19 Challenges

EdinboroHR

In a press release, Edinboro University president Guiyou Huang, Ph.D. announced that "we have decided to move most of our courses online for the fall semester and to significantly limit the number of students living on campus." Citing rising cases of COVID-19, Huang expressed concern for the health risks to students, faculty, and staff.

Edinboro outlined that some classes, such as "art studios, labs, nursing clinicals and similar courses" will have in-person instruction. Most classes will take place online however, with plans in place to have "live" classrooms go virtual if the pandemic worsens. A full listing of in-person courses is scheduled to be sent shortly after the initial statement on July 22. 

In their earlier announcement on June 12, in addition to rolling out an altered fall calendar, Edinboro noted that "all classes will be designed so that they can quickly pivot to fully online delivery if necessary." The school's plans to return to classes were made public later than those like Penn State Behrend and private local schools such as Mercyhurst and Gannon. 

At this time, Gannon and Mercyhurst have plans to resume in-person classes, with Behrend leaning toward a mixture of both online and in-person classes. 

As per local housing, only international students, and "students enrolled in a course with an experiential component that is being taught in person and is required for their major," as well as "any student facing extraordinary circumstances" will be permitted to stay on campus. Those who qualify must request to do so online. All housing assigned and paid for prior to this announcement will be canceled, with refunds applied for students who have already paid. 

According to U.S. News & World Report, 30% of Edinboro's enrolled students live on-campus. As of 2019, that number is roughly 1450 out of the school's 4,834 total students. 

For this semester, the on-campus capacity will be 175. 

In contrast to common dormitory life, those students living on-campus will be required to have their own bedroom and bathroom, which will run $3,000 per semester. Students will undergo a temperature check and health screening prior to moving in. 

Students may still live off-campus, though campus access will be limited to in-person classes.

Dining will take place at the Frank G. Pogue Student Center, with a limited menu.  

A majority of in-person activities and events will be canceled, with more virtual events to be planned. 

The Ghering Health and Wellness Center will only cater to on-campus students, though telehealth and telecounseling appointments will be available to all students. 

"Students, we understand this is not the fall semester you had hoped for, which is disappointing, Huang admitted. "But we are erring on the side of caution, rather than risking your health and the health of faculty and staff. At some point, we will return to some semblance of normalcy."