We based this decision on what’s the safest and most prudent decision for the campus community,” Director of Communications Paul Cocke said.
By Ryan Morris
Western’s campus will hold remote courses for winter quarter and continue to operate at Operational Level 2.
Winter quarter classes will have approximately the same levels of remote and face-to-face interactions as they did in the fall, according to the campus advisory. The campus advisory states that residence halls will also continue with limited face-to-face interactions, similar to fall quarter.
The Incident Command Structure and Academic Coordinating Committee of the Faculty Senate informed this decision, according to the campus advisory. The Incident Command Structure decided COVID-19 cases at the local and state level need to decrease before bringing more students to campus, according to the campus advisory.
Western has confirmed four positive COVID-19 tests as of Oct. 16, according to Western’s coronavirus information website.
“[Four cases is] a very low positivity rate, and that's important, but what’s most important is keeping our students, faculty and staff safe and healthy,” said Director of Communications Paul Cocke.
Winter quarter will begin on Jan. 5 as scheduled. Any courses that are being held face-to-face or in a hybrid model will be remote until Jan. 11. This is to accommodate for the testing of returning campus residents and students, according to the campus advisory.
Western will be releasing further details on testing at a later time, according to the campus advisory. This will include testing information for on-campus employees, Cocke said.
