UPDATE: Emory University in Atlanta became the first college in Georgia to announce it is closing its dorms, ending face-to-face classes and moving its students to online classes for the rest of the semester in response to the coronavirus.
In an announcement Wednesday night, Emory said it is extending spring break through Sunday, March 22, and then switching all classes to remote learning for graduate and undergraduate classes starting Monday, March 23.
All students residing in Emory dorms must collect their belongings and move out between now and Sunday, March 22 at 5:00 p.m. Residential facilities will close at this time and will remain closed for the spring semester.
To read more about Emory, go here.
» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Coronavirus in Georgia
Original story:
Amid growing coronavirus fears, colleges around the country are sending a jarring message to students this week, many of whom are off campus on spring break: Don’t come back.
During the past several days, more than 100 U.S. colleges have announced plans to hold all classes online. On Wednesday, North Carolina announced that all 17 of its public university campuses were moving online. Students there are on spring break this week, and their vacation will be extended through next week to make time for the transition.
So far, no Georgia institutions are following suit, although schools here are talking about it as students grow anxious with the rising number of infections.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, its first since H1N1 “swine flu” in 2009. So far, most who are diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by this new coronavirus, report mild symptoms, especially children and young adults. It appears to be more serious for older people and those with chronic conditions, though, and leaders across the planet are racing to contain it before a flood of cases overwhelms their medical systems.
Students at universities from Harvard on the East Coast to Stanford on the West have been told to attend class exclusively online to limit physical contact. Ohio State University, one of the nation’s largest with 68,000 students, suspended face-to-face instruction Monday.
The virus is hitting Georgia as many campuses are already on spring break or about to shutter for it next week.
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But if the experience in nearby states is a guide, Georgia student life could face disruption afterward.
The University of Virginia, Duke, Vanderbilt and other storied Southern institutions are taking the same action as Harvard University in the Northeast, where President Lawrence S. Bacow asked students this week not to return after spring break. They must work “remotely” on their courses “until further notice.” Students stuck on campus will have a place to live, but he warned them to prepare for a “severely limited” life, with little activity or interaction.
The reaction in Georgia has been more subdued. So far, only a few activities have been canceled and regular classes are still on.
Clark Atlanta University President George T. French, Jr. announced Tuesday that large events next week, such as the Founders’ Day Convocation and a speaker series, are being canceled. On Wednesday, Brenau University in Gainesville postponed upcoming events, such as an opera workshop and a foot race.
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The universities say they are working closely with state health authorities. They are likely also aware of the effect on lives beyond their campuses should they opt to close. They are served by an army of vendors, such as cooks, who contribute to Georgia’s economy.
“If students aren’t on campus, then the campus doesn’t need food service,” said Thomas Smith, an economist at Emory’s Goizueta Business School. “So all the vendors that provide food service are going to suffer.”
It might be a minor impact to the economy of a diverse jobs center like metro Atlanta, but a thronging campus that suddenly becomes a ghost town could be a crippling blow for a rural city anchored by a college.
Meanwhile, students at Georgia Tech, Emory, the University of North Georgia, Georgia State, the University of Georgia and Kennesaw State are mounting petition drives to compel their campuses to hold all classes online.
The GSU petition has garnered more than 20,000 signatures. A student who signed it, computer information systems major Brandon Wyatt, is now paying up to $60 a week in parking fees to avoid exposure on mass transit. He has asthma, which increases the danger of COVID-19, and said GSU is equipped for online instruction and should already be doing it.
“Think about student health,” he said. “It is not worth somebody getting sick and possibly dying.”
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But can hastily assembled virtual classes match the quality of face-to-face classes? Surveys of college students show they value interactions with their professors, according to the 2019 report “Does Online Education Live Up To Its Promise?”
It can work with enough laptops, adequate internet service, instructors who know what they’re doing online and support to help them when they need it, said Sandy Baum, a co-author of the report and professor emerita of economics at Skidmore College. If professors can use virtual meeting platforms to get students online at the regular class time, then they can hold a discussion not unlike what normally happens in a classroom, she said. “On the other hand, if it’s a class of 150 people, what are they going to be able to do other than put the lecture online?”
One Georgia campus may already be affected. Two students at Gordon State College south of Atlanta may have been exposed to the virus while working off campus, and the Georgia Department of Health was rushing to test them for COVID-19, campus president Kirk A. Nooks announced Wednesday. The students were quarantined off campus.
“The overall risk of COVID-19 to students at Gordon State College is low,” his statement to the campus said. “However, DPH will contact anyone who may have been in close contact with either of these students and who may be at risk of exposure.” He urged people to contact a health care provider if they have classic symptoms, such as a fever with a cough and shortness of breath, but tempered his message: “it is extremely important that students stay calm and not panic,” he said.
