Michigan State University Moves All Fall Classes Online

Michigan State University announced Tuesday evening that they are moving all of their classes online for the fall 2020 semester.

In a letter to students, university president Samuel L. Stanley, Jr. M.D. said,

Given the current status of the virus in our country — particularly what we are seeing at other institutions as they re-populate their campus communities — it has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus.

Effective immediately, all undergraduate students who had planned to stay in residence halls at MSU are asked to stay home and do their classes remotely. There were already options for most classes to be done remotely, and the statement from the president says that they are working to make the remainder of them available online before the beginning of the semester.

Some programs, such as law, human medicine, nursing, osteopathic medicine and veterinary medicine may still have classes in-person. The statement from the president said that students enrolled in those programs will be receiving further information soon.

There will still be housing available on campus for a small number of students who need it, but all others will participate in the fall semester virtually. It's rumored that student athletes that are currently engaged in practices or workouts will also be able to remain on campus.

Currently, the plan is to begin the remote classes for fall on September 2, 2020.

President Stanley further said,

This was an extraordinarily difficult decision, but the safety of our campus community must be our paramount concern. Please know that we are making choices based on reliable public health data, updates from local and state officials and our understanding of the science and research available to us on the novel coronavirus.