The University will offer five modes of academic instruction, single-occupancy on-campus housing, regular COVID-19 evaluation testing and mandatory reentry testing in the spring 2021 semester, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin said in an email Friday.
The email lists five modes of instruction that courses may fall under. There are two in-person modes and three remote modes. In-person modes will be mainly reserved for courses with less than 35 students, however a course with a maximum of 50 students has the opportunity to be taught in-person.
Courses prioritized for in-person instruction will be those made for first-year students to learn about specific academic disciplines, those which enable seniors to take capstone and seminar courses and any additional courses which are particularly hands-on.
Details regarding the mode of each course will be indicated at the beginning of November on ConnectCarolina, in time for registration appointments to start Nov. 30.
"Our decisions on in-person and remote courses for the spring are fundamentally linked with our choices regarding on-campus residency and testing," Guskiewicz and Blouin said in the email.
According to the email, regular COVID-19 evaluation testing, as well as mandatory reentry testing will be required for students, faculty and staff.
This decision is based off of the success of saliva-based evaluation testing for students, administered in the Carolina Union, Guskiewicz and Blouin said in the email.
"We are still actively evaluating options for frequency, administration and processing of the tests," Guskiewicz and Blouin said in the email. "We will share more details with you in the coming weeks."
There are currently 1500 students living on-campus this fall, a number that will increase in the spring. According to the email, there will be anticipated housing for approximately 3500 students, a 2000 student increase. Only single-occupancy rooms will be offered in on-campus housing.
