Universities urged to start fall instruction weeks earlier

Long break would keep students away during a second virus wave

Public universities across California are planning to start fall instruction on time this year, but infectious disease experts wonder if there’s a better approach given the potential for coronavirus disruption.

Perhaps the colleges should start early, experts say. That’s right: Early.

Start the semester (or quarter) two or three weeks early and end it before Thanksgiving to keep students off-campus for several months when a second wave of the virus may strike in the winter.

The idea is “intriguing,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at UC San Francisco and the director of public health within the school’s Institute for Global Health Sciences.

“It’s like hurricane preparedness,” he said. “Get the plywood on the windows before the storm.”

Schools across the country already are seeking shelter.

From North Carolina State to Rice to Notre Dame, universities have moved up the academic calendar:

• Fall instruction begins in the first half of August for semester schools, weeks earlier than usual.

• Fall break has been canceled.

• The semester will end in the middle of November.

• Students will scatter for Thanksgiving and not return until January or February.

“This is a strategy that has some rationale behind it,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley.

“It would not send students away for Thanksgiving and have them return, increasing the chance of infecting people over the holiday and bringing the virus back to campus.”

The move would eliminate not one but two instances of possible viral spread for California universities: when students return to campus from Thanksgiving and when they head back home for winter break after December exams.

And it would keep the campuses empty for at least eight weeks, buying time until a vaccine potentially arrives early next year.

The University of San Diego, a private school, has adopted the plan. USD announced several weeks ago that its fall semester would move from its usual start in early September to the middle of August, then conclude before Thanksgiving.

So far, none of the large public universities in California have announced plans to move the calendar.

The 23 campuses within the California State University system are on the semester system, with most scheduled to begin fall instruction on Aug. 24.

CSU recently announced that most

courses will be offered remotely. Each campus has the option to provide some in-person instruction (pending approval from the president’s office), according to spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp. Asked about moving the calendar, he said: “There are no plans to do that.”

That’s the case in Berkeley, home of the only University of California campus that’s on the semester system.

“Not at this time,” spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said in response to a question about a potential calendar change.

“Our academic calendars are set years in advance,” she said.