CSU President McConnell Announces Proposed Tuition Freeze and Shift to Remote Learning After 2020 Fall Break

Pending approval from the CSU Board of Governors, CSU will not raise tuition in 2020-2021, President Joyce McConnell announced May 29. And while classes for the Fall 2020 semester will begin as already scheduled on Aug. 24, the university will shift to remote, online classes following Fall Break. This means that the last two weeks of classes (Nov. 30-Dec. 11) and finals week (Dec. 14-18) will be delivered virtually.

“The health of our community is our top priority,” McConnell said in explaining the decision to move to remote learning at the end of the semester. “The public health experts on our own team and across the country are united in urging people to limit travel to contain the spread of COVID-19. In light of this guidance, it would be irresponsible to ask our community members to return to campus after traveling for Fall Break. Instead, I’ve asked our academic team to work with all of our extraordinary faculty to prepare to deliver their course material virtually to wrap up the semester.”

Residence halls will remain open during and after Fall Break for students who need to remain or return. Other campus facilities will adjust operations at that point in the semester as appropriate per public health guidance in place at the time.

In addition to announcing the proposed tuition freeze and Fall 2020 semester schedule, McConnell reiterated the university’s commitment to addressing the needs of any student, faculty, or staff who is vulnerable in the COVID-19 crisis or who cares for another who is vulnerable.

She also urged all members of the university community to read the latest news from the university’s Pandemic Preparedness Team about planned public health precautions for fall.

McConnell has assured faculty, staff, and students that the university will communicate more details about preparations for in-person operations in fall in the next few weeks.

“During this continually uncertain and challenging time, I know how important transparency and concrete information is to your peace of mind,” she said. “Please know that providing those things is one of my top priorities, now and going forward.”

Comprehensive Wellness Framework

The components of what McConnell described as a “comprehensive wellness framework” include the following:

• CSU will offer face-to-face instruction on campus this fall, with reduced density in learning environments. The university will also facilitate remote learning for those who will need it and create hybrid classes as needed to incorporate online learning.

• All employees on university grounds or performing university work in the field or in a satellite office or campus will be asked to perform self-monitoring and reporting of COVID symptoms.

• With capacity in federally certified laboratories on university grounds to run hundreds of COVID-19 tests per day, the university intends to strategically test members of the community during the fall semester.

• The university will isolate sick individuals and will be able to care for and quarantine students who live in university housing who become ill with COVID-19.

• Contact tracing will be performed for those who are ill, and swift action taken to prevent the spread of further illness.

• All students, faculty, staff, and visitors to university campuses and facilities will be expected to follow current public health guidance, including wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

• CSU Facilities Management staff will maintain a rigorous cleaning and disinfecting schedule for campus facilities, following CDC best practices.

More Information

More detailed information about all these planned protocols and strategies can be found at: https://safety.colostate.edu/fall-2020-framework/