University of Missouri shifts to all online classes, tells students to stay home
With coronavirus cases spiking, the University of Missouri will no longer hold class on campus after the Thanksgiving break, and will shift to remote instruction and finals.
Students are asked to go home for the holiday break and not return to campus until January.
“We believe these actions will support our community, and will provide the best path forward for our university’s return to in-person learning in the spring semester,” Mun Choi, MU chancellor and president of the University of Missouri’s four-campus system, said Thursday in a letter to the campus community.
At the start of the school year, officials had thought they might go online only after Thanksgiving. But then last month, they said they were pleased with how the Columbia campus was managing the coronavirus and would continue with a mix of in-person and online classes.
The rise in cases changed their minds again.
The university has had 2,153 cases since Aug. 19, and as of Wednesday had 165 active cases. On Monday MU was reporting 11 new cases, and that number more than quadrupled to 47 Wednesday.
“We have said from the beginning that our decisions would follow medical and public health guidance, and they would be based on a full evaluation of circumstances and not driven by a single number,” Choi said.
“While our experts say that MU students have not presented a direct burden to the local hospitals because they have not needed hospitalization, we all are members of the broader community. And as the community strives to gain control of the virus, a temporary thinning of the student population is helpful.”
The university said it will lend some of its contact tracers, case investigators and medical professionals to support surrounding Boone County’s needs. The health department reports that the county has had 7,763 COVID-19 cases — 2,851 of those people ages 18 to 22.
In-person classes will continue through Nov. 20. Residence and dining halls will remain open for students who cannot leave campus. And students who do leave are encouraged to get tested before heading home and asked not to return to campus until the start of the spring semester Jan. 19. Courses where students have direct clinical interaction with patients will continue in person.
Officials say plans for in-person class next semester could change.
With the latest announcement, MU joins University of Kansas and Kansas State University, which both will do all remote instruction after Thanksgiving. University of Missouri-Kansas City plans to return to campus after Thanksgiving but “our plans may be subject to change based on what’s going on in the community,” said Bridget Koan, a UMKC spokeswoman.
In September MU boasted coronavirus cases were low because students and staff were wearing masks, hand washing frequently and social distancing. But MU only tests people with symptoms, so infectious disease experts argued their numbers might not reflect reality.
“Our faculty, staff and students have persevered through a fall term like no other,” MU Provost Latha Ramchand said in a note to campus Thursday. “They have demonstrated incredible resilience and embraced the precautions and adjustments that supported the safety of everyone. We know it has not been easy, but your efforts and commitment have made this semester possible.”
But it has not been without some trouble. About 3% of the student body has been disciplined for COVID violations.
“Since the start of the semester, we’ve referred 841 cases (some could involve the same student) to the Office of Student Accountability and Support. Two students were expelled and others have faced suspension or lighter penalties,” said Christian Basi, university spokesman.
Among those disciplined are 150 who last month were caught cheating on exams held online. They used a group chat to share questions and answers. And before that, about 330 students were put under review for breaking coronavirus safety rules.
