(Seguin) — TLU students won’t be returning to campus this spring semester. Instead the university has announced it will finish off the spring semester with all online classes
The major changes which include postponing its May graduation to August were announced Wednesday to students and staff.
Ashlie Ford, director of marketing and communications, says the decisions they are sharing have been made after careful consideration, recognizing the impact that they have on all members of the TLU community
“Less than two weeks ago, we announced an extension of our spring break and that we would be transition to online classes from March 30 to April 8 and we indicated at that time that we would reassess the COVID-19 situation and determine if we would continue online classes or if faculty and students would be able to return to campus at some point and like all of you know, our hope was that we would be able to return to our campus and to our academic life and something closer to normal as soon as possible and that we could take some time before making other decisions about the remainder of the semester. However, given what we now understand about the coronavirus pandemic and about the best ways to respond to it as well as the challenges that are being presented when decisions like these are being delayed, we wanted to go ahead and decide based on Dr. Debbie Cottrell’s guidance and input from the faculty executive committee as well as our safety and emergency management committee that we have determined that we will continue with online classes through the end of the spring semester to ensure the health and safety of our community,” said Ford.
Ford says this decision, of course, impacts other campus operations, such as residence halls and the TLU Bookstore, as well as university events such as Spring Commencement, Student Academic Symposium, and the Class Ring Ceremony.
She says it was TLU’s hope to return to campus and to academic life but believes the best way to respond to the coronavirus pandemic is to delay its commencement exercises to the end of the summer. She says specific details on that decision, however, will be made later on.
“It just goes back to all of the guidelines that are coming out from the CDC and other updates that we have been following that large gatherings and things like that are not wise at this time and like I said, the way that things seem to be unfolding regarding the coronavirus pandemic, we just felt that postponing graduation was going to be the safest thing right now that we could do for our students, our faculty, staff and their families,” said Ford.
In a statement to students, faculty and staff, TLU President Dr. Debbie Cottrell says the decisions they are sharing have been made after careful consideration, recognizing the impact that they have on all members of the TLU community. She again says they are deeply disappointed that they cannot resume campus life as hoped, but believe a responsible and timely response to their current situation will help them return to the full range of campus teaching, residence life, extracurricular activities, special events and commemorations, and all of the other things that they love about being together at TLU.
The university will be closing all campus housing for the health and safety of its residents. They will be providing an opportunity for students to come to campus (through a staggered/scheduled plan) to get their belongings and move-out of their housing assignment.
TLU to finish the semester all online, graduation postponed
