The University of Texas at Austin has canceled classes March 13 after two presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the Austin-Travis County area overnight.
“After two presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the Austin-Travis County area, UT Austin has closed operations and canceled classes today, Friday March 13,” the university announced online.
According to the university, only essential employees should work March 13.
Original Post: March 12, 1:20 p.m.
All travel for University of Texas employees and visits to the campus by prospective students have been suspended as part of a host of efforts to reduce the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading to the school, UT President Greg Fenves said in a news conference March 12.
After announcing March 11 the school would be extending its spring break by a week, Fenves said the additional time will be used to help faculty prepare for the potential shift to online classes. Large classes with hundreds of students will be required to move to online instruction, UT Provost Maurie McInnis said. Fenves declined to say what the cap would be for class sizes affected by this measure.
McInnis said there are no plans for now to extend the semester to accommodate the extra week of spring break. However, university officials have asked faculty to look at adjusting their syllabi to allow, for example, fewer assignments to meet the adjusted timeline.
UT-sponsored travel for employees is suspended until at least April 30, and prospective student visits, including for those who have already been admitted to the school, are suspended indefinitely. All study abroad travel has been canceled through the summer, and the school is working on recalling its more than 700 students studying around the globe.
While students are away on the extended spring break, Fenves said the school will work on “reconfiguring” classrooms as part of the school’s “social distancing” efforts. Though each class will be changed on a case-by-case basis, he said this could mean having laboratory classes that must meet in person instead meet in smaller groups over several days. The university has yet to lay out exactly what all of its social distancing guidelines will include.
“We can't have a blanket statement that says every course has to go online,” McInnis said.
And for now at least, Fenves said, “we're not ready to make that decision to suspend all in-person classes this year."
As for graduation, Fenves said the university’s primary goal is to ensure all students on track to finish this semester will be able to complete their degree requirements. But he added commencement ceremonies, scheduled for May 22-23, are too far out to make any decisions on whether they will still happen.
“We have 10,000 students who expect to graduate, and many of them are students who are going to go on and contribute to society,” Fenves said. “Interrupting that graduation [would have] tremendous consequences.”
Some schools, such as Harvard University, announced all students must leave campus by a certain date as part of its coronavirus protection measures. Fenves, however, said UT students would not be forced to leave Austin, including those who live on campus, citing some of them do not have homes to return to. He said this includes spring break, during which the campus and its major facilities such as University Health Services and dining halls will still be open.
Fenves acknowledged the increased cost to the university to conduct additional cleaning of buildings and move classes online, but that cost has not been a factor weighed in any of their decisions. He did not say exactly how much all of the changes made to the school to combat coronavirus have or will cost.
“We are going to bear the cost to make the changes,” Fenves said.
UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs will move to online classes when students return from an extended spring break March 30, according to an email sent by the school’s dean, Angela Evans, to faculty.
In an announcement March 11, Fenves said he would be leaving it up to the deans of each school and college at the university to decide how classes would be taught over the next few weeks.
In the email, Evans reminded faculty that they have the right to alter their syllabi for the remainder of the semester, such as reducing the number of assignments due. Most classes end May 8. The university has been testing the online service Zoom in recent weeks as a possible alternative to in-person instruction.
“I know that you have many questions and perhaps lingering concerns,” Evans said in her email. “At this time, the university is operating as usual and our business and research activities are not altered. ... We are working to ensure that we have the most current information available and will share with you.”
UT Athletics Director Chris Del Conte also announced March 12 that all upcoming events at the Frank C. Erwin Center have been postponed for the immediate future.
