SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Coronavirus questions are still in the air, but California State University, Sacramento is moving forward to allow a small portion of students on campus grounds for Fall Semester.
It’s been known for months that California State University campuses would be going virtual for most of their courses. On Wednesday, Sacramento State’s announcement cemented just how much “most” actually meant. The university determined only 7.3% of the courses need that face-to-face component, some largely due to equipment needs.
“If you’re in construction management, you have to smash concrete to actually build a building eventually,” said Robert Nelson, president of Sacramento State. “You need to know the tensile strength. That’s got to be done in a concrete lab.”
The 7.3% of classes are based in film studies, theater, chemistry, engineering, nursing and biology. Only 3,000 total students, roughly 10%, will see the grounds of Sacramento State this year. Nelson said the number will let everyone get the courses they need for the semester.
Despite the clearance to go to the campus, those 3,000 students won’t exactly be fixtures at the college, and they certainly won’t all be on campus at the same time.
“Some of those courses are only going to come onto campus five, six times in the whole semester long, because it’s when they need that piece of equipment that they’re going to be here,” Nelson said.
The nurses need mannequins, the science students need labs, and the theater students need their lighting equipment and stages. Nelson said professors will be front loading courses so that the learning material that requires you to be on campus is given priority.
Social distancing is the focal point for the semester, but in some courses, it won’t always be achievable.
RELATED:
Lab partners will have to sit close together, and Romeo and Juliet won’t be able to play their roles if they're six feet apart. To that end, there’ll be other safety protocols like increased sanitation and face covering requirements. Some classrooms even have 12 feet of distance between the professor and the students.
“It might seem very strange to put on a play in a mask, but that’s part of the situation we are in…” Nelson said.
While the plan has been thought out and the contingencies put into place, those in-person courses are not guaranteed to be there for the entire year. If the coronavirus situation changes, classes will have to pivot to virtual instruction, which isn’t always possible.
“Not every course will be able to pivot. Some courses will require an incomplete,” Nelson said, adding that during the last switch to virtual learning in the spring 247 had to step back from their courses. He said those nurses are now getting special classes to finish their education.
It’s a decision that lies with Nelson, but it’ll also be one that shares discussion with the county health department, local officials, and the CSU system.
If a student on campus gets the virus, they’ll have to quarantine for at least 14 days, and if needed, Sacramento State will have a dorm room available that has been dedicated for quarantines. Their health center leadership will then contact the student and will also be involved with contact tracing.
Sacramento State has a reputation as a commuter campus. About 93% of their undergraduates identified as living off campus or commuters, according to Fall 2019 data from the Office of Institutional Research.
As counties experience differing waves of the virus and rates of spread, the university is leaning on its safety protocols to mitigate potential impacts of commuters and potential virus spread. However, there are still some unknowns.
RELATED: Stalling your CSU degree is 'the last thing you want to do.' College is different but don't wait.
“I’m not certain we have all the answers, and I don’t want to be dishonest in any form or fashion,” Nelson said of the situation. “We have very strong safety protocols and we’ll maintain those safety protocols. No students will be required to attend any class. We have an alternative for everyone else. No faculty member will be required to teach any course, because we have other faculty members who can step up and take care of that.”
Nelson emphasized that priority has been on the safety of the students and on providing an excellent education.
“We want to make sure that if a student is concerned about going home to their parents - and their parents may be older or they may be compromised in some way or another - they don’t have to be here. We want to make certain that this is voluntary, and that people are safe.”
As the start of school draws near, the way forward for athletics still isn’t very clear. Athletes will return to campus for workouts in limited numbers, but the final guidance will need to come from the governor before the path gets any clearer.
“We’re waiting for guidance from the governor,” Nelson said. “The governor was supposed to have given us guidance about two weeks ago. We still have no guidance at all in the state, as far as what we’re looking at.”
Even though athletics are in ambiguity, Nelson said the student athletes will have their scholarships honored regardless of whether sports return to campus.
It's a strange time for the university with many questions about how long this virus will be around and how long it will take for a vaccine to emerge. For now, Nelson said the idea of getting things back to normal isn't even in the conversation as the university moves forward.
“There is no old normal anymore, OK? As I said, we have to be very much cognizant of the safety of our students and the safety of our faculty as well,” he said.
Sacramento State’s full campus plan with additional details on academics, on-campus housing, and on-campus dining is available in full HERE. The new semester will start Aug. 31.
FOR NEWS IN YOUR COMMUNITY, DOWNLOAD OUR APP:
►Stay in the know! Sign up now for the Daily Blend Newsletter
WATCH ALSO: Patterson schools delayed by a month amid coronavirus increases | Q&A with Superintendent