Syracuse University intends to resume on-campus classes for the fall 2020 semester, but will develop plans for multiple return scenarios, Chancellor Kent Syverud said Thursday. 

Syverud announced March 16 that classes would take place online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester due to the coronavirus pandemic. SU officials encouraged students to leave Syracuse by March 22. 

The university will likely need to implement policies regarding physical spaces for learning and working should students return to campus in the fall, the chancellor said in an SU News release.

“It remains my hope and intention that we will be welcoming students back to campus this fall,” Syverud.

Coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected over 2 million people worldwide and killed 139,419. In New York state, the virus has infected 214,639 people and killed 11,620.

Decisions about resuming on-campus classes will be based on guidance from local and state health officials, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Syverud said. Administrators, faculty and staff will consider student health and safety in creating the various return scenarios, he said. 

SU will have to take “bold action” to address the uncertainty the pandemic has caused, as well as the financial toll it has taken on the university, Syverud said. The virus has placed “unprecedented financial stress” on SU, but efforts in the past five years to strengthen the university’s financial position has helped it weather the crisis, he said.

“I am confident that the ingenuity, creativity and resilience that define our Orange community will position us to overcome these challenges in a way consistent with our longstanding commitment to academic excellence,” Syverud said.

Published on April 16, 2020 at 12:04 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3