In-Person Classes Likely To Resume In 2021 As Universities Chart Coronavirus Contingency Plans

In-person classes at universities across America may not resume until 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic looms and classes for the incoming fall semester could still take place online.

Boston University is the first American college to announce that it will not be having any campus activities for the summer. The school also stated that it could be closed until the rest of the year if health officials say it's still won't be safe for the students to congregate.

The university's president Robert Brown has set up a working group for its COVID-19 “Recovery Plan" after the school shut down its campus on March 22. The group's latest contingency plan was outlined in BU Today, its communication department's news organ.

"In the unlikely event that public health officials deem it unsafe to open in the fall of 2020, then the University's contingency plan envisions the need to consider a later in-person return, perhaps in January 2021," the report stated.

Jean Morrison, Boston University's provost and chief academic officer, said that the school is still focused and aiming for a fall opening. For the summer, however, Boston University's over 33,000 students may take remote learning courses while housing and dining services will be available but limited.

Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow said that they are also focused on resuming in-person classes by the fall semester. He said that like Boston University, other schools in Massachusetts are making plans that will address the possible changes for the coming school year.

“Pretty early on we realized that if this virus came to Boston and came to our campus that we would need to at least plan for doing it,” Bacow said. “As soon as other countries started engaging in social distancing, we started to imagine what it would mean for Harvard.”

Oregon State University will also continue with online summer classes. Steve Clark, the spokesperson for the school, said that while they hope to reopen in the fall, they are also preparing for "every possible contingency."

Epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding said that American colleges are on the right track for planning in these uncertain times. He revealed that epidemiology modeling suggested that the coronavirus wave may open and close until 2022; thus, school closures and stay-at-home orders, as well as social distancing orders, could still be in place until then.