By Reece Nations, Managing Editor
Texas Tech President Lawrence Schovanec announced via a campus-wide email Tuesday in-person class meetings for the final three class days of the fall 2020 semester will not resume following Thanksgiving break.
“We know that many of you will travel over the Thanksgiving break to visit family and friends,” Schovanec said in the email. “Based on feedback from students, parents, faculty, and staff, and with a continuing focus on our community’s health and safety, we will not resume in-person class meetings for the final three class days of the semester (November 30th – December 2nd).”
Schovanec’s statement continued, “Requiring students to return for one or two class periods presents additional travel that may increase risk. Face-to-face and hybrid courses will transition to online instruction and learning for these three days.”
Out of 1882 reported positive coronavirus cases as of Oct. 12, there are currently 117 actives cases among students and 40 among Tech employees, according to Tech’s COVID-19 dashboard. While 38 new recoveries were reported, 61 new active cases were also reported.
Texas Tech’s COVID-19 dashboard as of Oct. 12. Image obtained from the Texas Tech website.
All on-campus facilities are to remain operational until further notice, Schovanec said in the email. Dead day and pending finals will continue as originally scheduled.
All institutions in the Texas Tech University System set new enrollment records for the 2019-2020 academic year, according to TexasTech.edu. Currently, Tech has 38,803 students enrolled, Angelo State University reached 10,568 students enrolled, the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center reached 5,295 students enrolled and TTUHSC El Paso reached 765 enrolled students.
Face-to-face instruction is expected to resume in tandem with hybrid and online modalities Jan. 13, 2021, according to the announcement. On-campus coronavirus testing will continue through Dec. 9.
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
