Stanford, Other Universities Weigh Options To Reopen This Fall

PALO ALTO, CA — Stanford University and San Jose State are among universities that have announced possible scenarios of what educational opportunities they will offer students this fall, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The magazine is tracking responses from schools after the coronavirus pandemic forced colleges and universities to send students home and shift to an online model.

According to the report, Stanford is among the universities that are still weighing their options. Stanford expects to make a decision in May, but officials have said that it may delay its fall quarter until the winter and then continue with quarters in the spring and summer, the Stanford Daily reported last week.

“This is something that is being contemplated, “Provost Persis Drell said in a virtual faculty meeting last week, the student newspaper reported. “It is not impossible; it is not crazy.”

San Jose State is planning a hybrid of in-person and online classes, the San Jose Mercury News reported recently while Santa Clara University is planning on returning to in-person classes. Although some restrictions could be eventually lifted, San Jose State Provost Vincent De Casino said because social distancing requirements will likely still be in place for the foreseeable future, most traditional lecture classes would be held online only.

Our goal is a hybrid,” Del Casino told the Mercury News. “But it’s hybrid in two ways because face-to-face will be there for some online classes. Even though we move online, a portion of the curriculum will still be where everyone meets together.”

Del Casino also told the paper that there are no plans to reduce the current tuition costs and said that students who claim that they should not be paying full amounts because of online learning “don’t have their facts straight.”