WASHINGTON — Howard University will go completely virtual for the fall 2020 semester, university officials announced on Friday.
"After consultation with our public health faculty experts, District of Columbia officials, University leadership, and monitoring the status of the COVID-19 pandemic locally, regionally and nationally, we have made the very difficult decision to move all undergraduate courses for the fall 2020 semester fully online, and non-residential," Howard University President Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick said in a release to the campus community.
Frederick said campus residence halls will be closed, with the exception of The Axis, which is apartment living.
Campus officials are working to rescind all housing assignments for students who were planning to stay on campus this fall.
"Unfortunately, the stark realities of the current state of the pandemic, District requirement that students from hot spot states would fully quarantine for 14 days, and challenges to safely get students to campus from throughout the nation and around the world without creating additional exposure and risk, have proven overwhelming," Frederick said.
As District officials approved the school's 'Re-opening Plan' earlier this week, the campus is planning to slowly return key staff and researchers back to campus in a phased, responsible manner.
Many of the school's graduate and professional programs and courses will also be provided online, either primarily, or fully.
While many health professional didactic courses will be online, the clinical training components will be conducted face-to-face, secondary to accreditation and licensure requirements, campus officials said.
A decision regarding the spring 2021 semester will be made at a later point in the fall semester once the university receives additional data and information regarding COVID-19.