Nebraska Wesleyan University students will start the fall semester a week earlier than scheduled and continue on campus until Thanksgiving, the liberal arts college said Tuesday.
Unlike other colleges and universities adopting condensed schedules that see classes end around Nov. 25, a move administrators say will limit travel by students and keep them off campus ahead of a projected second coronavirus wave in the fall, NWU students will finish the semester online.
Students, faculty and staff will get Labor Day off, but there will be no fall break this year.
Following the Thanksgiving break, NWU will hold a final week of lectures and small group discussions remotely from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 before proctoring final exams online Dec. 7-11, the university said.
"We feel strongly that these adjustments will not only allow us to be together in person for nearly all of the fall semester, but they will also help us to respond effectively to a potential second wave of COVID-19 next winter," NWU President Darrin Good said.
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By mid-June, NWU also aims to have plans in place regarding what campus life will look like for the fall 2020 semester.
Task forces are examining how classroom education will work, what student experiences such as Greek recruitment, athletics, residential living and dining will look like, as well as how students can get face masks and cleaning supplies.
The American Rivers Conference, of which Nebraska Wesleyan is a member, announced May 15 its plans to conduct athletic contests in the fall. Administrators and faculty representatives from the conference, which includes eight colleges in Iowa, were scheduled to meet again Wednesday.
If all goes according to plan, NWU has announced a tentative start to the spring semester: Jan. 11, 2021.
"Our hope is that we can protect the health of our entire campus community by significantly reducing travel to and from campus during the semester and particularly between Thanksgiving and spring semester," Good said.
On Tuesday, the Nebraska State College System, which has campuses in Peru, Wayne and Chadron, said it will start classes on Aug. 17 and wrap up before Thanksgiving.
Creighton University in Omaha announced a similar plan earlier in May.