Spring Updates

Dear Celts,

I have good news! After consulting with our medical advisors, we have made the decision to offer faculty and students with hyflex classes the option of returning to the classroom beginning February 1, as previously planned. Faculty teaching hyflex classes can now discuss with their students when they may return, and what their room assignments will be. 

Safety remains our primary priority, but mental health is also high on that list. For that reason, we have also decided to have Spring Break as planned, and this year staff may also take Spring Break off. Spring Break offers a chance to unwind and reset, which is especially important when so many are facing hardships and uncertain circumstances. We encourage Celts to limit their travel, but as an added precaution all classes will be fully online the week following Spring Break. We will then return to the hyflex model.

I want to thank faculty and staff for your dedication, and students for your perseverance. Hope is on the horizon. As our options for interaction continue to open up, we look toward the fall semester with great enthusiasm. This moment in history has changed us and challenged us, but when we emerge from it we will know that through it all, we took care of each other.

Crescamus in Christo,

Dr. Richard Ludwick, President

Additional details below:

No faculty or student will be forced to return to the classroom. For those who choose to return, your classroom has been upgraded to a hyflex or simulcasting room to allow those students who wish to stay fully online to stream into class via Zoom. 

Training is available for faculty on the hyflex technology. Please contact Jim Monaghan and his team at TeachOnline@stthom.edu.

All classroom capacity will be reduced to 45% to allow for safe physical distancing. For example, a classroom like MLY 012, which normally holds 32 students, will now accommodate 14 students. This model worked well last semester. Please check your room assignment if you choose to return to campus.

Please continue to follow the UST COVID-19 protocols, including temperature screening, face masks worn at all times, including in the classroom, and social distancing (cf. https://stthom.edu/stayhealthy).