CU not confident Boulder campus will be open by May

University of Colorado courses for late May and most summer terms will be taught remotely, according to a letter sent to faculty members, staff members and students Tuesday.

As cases of COVID-19 increase in Colorado, university leaders are “not absolutely confident” the campus will be able to return to in-person classes by May or June, said provost Russell Moore.

CU leaders sought guidance from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for “how we might expect this wave of COVID infections to play out,” Moore said.

“Nobody has a crystal ball for this, and we took a pretty conservative approach. We are pretty sure this won’t be over by May or June, and we thought it would be better to give faculty and students time to plan what they should expect,” Moore said.

While many late May and summer courses are already online, the advanced notice will give those that are not plenty of time to change, Moore said.

Courses offered from May 11-29, June 1-July 2, June 1-July 24 and June 1Aug. 7 will all be online. A decision about the summer B term, from July 7-Aug. 7, and the Aug. 3-20 term will be made by mid-April, Moore said.

The decision has the agreement of chancellor Phil DiStefano and interim chief operating officer Patrick O’Rourke, according to Moore’s letter.

There was some indecision among students who weren’t sure whether they should sign up for on-campus summer classes, Moore said.

CU has seen significant upheaval this month as Boulder campus leaders were forced to make quick decisions because of the spread of COVID-19.

Over the course of two weeks, the university has switched to online classes for the rest of the semester, asked thousands of students to move out of residence halls and return home, canceled nearly all campus events for the next several months and seen students and at least one employee test positive for COVID-19. It was important to provide students and faculty with some stability, Moore said.

“As you all know, summer courses, which are key to many students’ progress toward their degrees, will be even more critical to that progress this summer, given the disruptions to instruction in spring 2020,” Moore wrote to students, faculty and staff.

Campus leaders will watch class enrollments to make sure there are enough spots for students who need them, Moore wrote.

Approximately 7,700 students were enrolled in summer courses in 2019, according to spokeswoman Deborah Mendez Wilson.