CSU System: Classes To Remain Online Through Spring 2021

CALIFORNIA — As COVID-19 continues to remain widespread in California, all 23 California State University campuses will default most of their classes to online instruction for the spring term, beginning January 2021. The university system will also enter another semester with a reduced population of students living on campus, CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White announced Thursday.

The CSU was the first university system in the country to announce that its classes would be held online to mitigate the spread in May.

"This decision is the only responsible one available to us at this time," White said in a news release. "And it is the only one that supports our twin North Stars of safeguarding the health, safety and well-being of our faculty, staff, students and communities, as well as enabling degree progression for the largest number of students."

The announcement comes after Chico State University became the first California college to close its dorms amid a spike in cases on the campus. Shortly after, San Diego State University officials announced it would move in-person classes online.

On Friday 32 new cases were reported on the SDSU campus, raising the total number of confirmed infected students on-and off-campus to 598 since the fall semester began Aug. 24.

About 75 percent of students testing positive live in off-campus housing not managed by the university, with 73 percent of the cases among the freshman and sophomore classes.

"We know far more about it now than we did back in May," White said. "The virus continues to spread. There is no vaccine and there likely will not be one widely available any time soon."

While college campuses are typically spreading grounds for seasonal viruses, the CSU chancellor said he's taking extra precautions in preparation for flu season. With a possible "twindemic" on the horizon this winter with COVID-19 and flu cases combined, students and staff shouldn't expect a return to normalcy anytime soon.

“A larger wave continues to be forecast for the period between October and December coupled with seasonal influenza,” he said. “This will undoubtedly be a daunting challenge for us. I cannot stress strongly enough that each of us should get a flu shot soon, certainly before the end of October. A subsequent wave of Covid-19 cases in or about March 2021 is also still projected.”

The CSU chancellor pointed to an uptick in socialization over Labor Day weekend, coupled with a "horrific fire season" that has forced thousands into congregate housing situations in California as yet another set of reasons to hunker down for the foreseeable future.

White added that the decision needed to be made swiftly to meet a critical deadline for each campus to seek authorization from the CSU's accrediting body, Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. This requirement was waived by the U.S. Department of Education for fall 2020 but it will expire in December and will not be renewed.

To meet this requirement, all 23 campuses will need to commit to a schedule for the coming spring semester in September and October.

Over the next several weeks, campuses will publish spring course offerings early so that campuses can distribute resources to meet student demand.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to force drastic changes in education, enrollment numbers have dropped for some of the CSU campuses while others have seen little impact. Nonetheless, online instruction is the safest method of resuming instruction until a vaccine is widely available, White asserted.

" While the current mitigation factors do make a difference, in the absence of a vaccine and of sufficient, cost-effective, timely testing and contact-tracing infrastructure, we are not able to return to a normal, principally in-person schedule in January 2021," White said.

The City News Service contributed to this report.