The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s spring semester will follow a compressed schedule that eliminates spring recess in order to encourage students to stay on campus for the entire term.
The start of classes has been moved from Monday, Jan. 11, 2021, to Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The term will end as originally scheduled on May 1.
“Our priority continues to be supporting the health and safety of our entire campus community as well as our neighbors in our surrounding communities,” said Dr. Catherine Koverola, president of Pitt-Bradford.
“We also want to provide our students with an excellent and inclusive academic experience in spite of these challenging circumstances.”
The spring compressed schedule is similar to that of the fall, eliminating extended breaks to encourage students to stay on campus. This fall, students will not return to campus after the Thanksgiving recess and instead will take their final exams remotely.
Even though Spring Break has been eliminated, the spring schedule has two mid-week student self-care days built in.
Students will continue to use the Flex@Pitt model, which provides instructors and students with flexible choices in how they wish to teach and learn – remotely, in person, synchronously or asynchronously.
During the fall semester, most Pitt-Bradford students have been able to attend at least some classes in person and follow appropriate protocols for physical distancing. In order to reduce the number of students in a classroom at any one time, some classes assign students days to attend in person or online. Additionally, many classes have been moved to physically larger spaces in order to be able to accommodate more students while maintaining safe distances.
As students enter each academic building, they scan their student identification and have their temperature taken. A concierge in each building is able to provide face coverings or hand sanitizer to students, if needed. In addition, traffic patterns have been reconfigured for one-way flow through buildings.
Additionally, buildings’ ventilation systems have been adjusted to exchange all of the air in the building at least six times per hour.
During the spring semester, the university’s staff will continue to work remotely, whenever possible. Members of the university community will continue to follow current safety protocols, such as wearing a face covering indoors and outdoors, maintaining physical distancing and increasing cleaning measures.
All planning regarding COVID-19 safety precautions at all Pitt campuses is done in consultation with the Pitt Health Care Advisory Group and COVID-19 Medical Response Office, which include leading experts in epidemiology, infectious disease management and environmental and occupational health.
