Fresno State students won’t return to campus in spring 2021 because of coronavirus
Fresno State students will get at least one more semester of working primarily online after California State University Chancellor Tim White announced Thursday that the 23-campus system would not go back to in-person classes in spring 2021.
White’s decision came “after extensive consultation with campus presidents and other stakeholders, and careful consideration of a multitude of factors – regarding the pandemic and its consequences, as well as other matters impacting the university and its operations,” he wrote in a letter to CSU students, staff and faculty.
White said he made the announcement three and a half months before the start of the spring semester to give families time to prepare. His letter details more of the decision-making process for planning around the COVID-19 pandemic. White said since there is no vaccine and cases continue to be higher than when campuses closed in the spring, it is the right decision.
Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro sent a message to students shortly after the announcement, saying he understood the disappointment of not returning to campus.
“I fully understand this decision may be difficult to process initially and, for some, to accept,” he wrote. “But I also continue to believe the best way to weather challenges is to first know what we are facing. By knowing now, in early September, what we can expect in the spring semester, we can each process the ramifications for us personally, and then begin planning accordingly.”
He said although he did not have many answers about the spring semester, he is pulling again on his planning task force to develop and release a spring 2021 plan as they did for the fall, which would detail how many classes can be held on campus and which employees will remain working from home.
White said each campus still retains flexibility and could implement additional in-person courses if local health departments allow. Graduation ceremonies, which largely did not take place for the class of 2020, will be decided beginning in January.
The CSU announcement comes just a few weeks after State Center Community College District announced its spring semester would also be primarily virtual as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
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