Sacred Heart to condense fall semester

Other Conn. colleges still exploring options

FAIRFIELD — Sacred Heart University plans to welcome undergraduate students back to campus in the fall but will end the semester at the traditional Thanksgiving break.

“We are condensing the undergraduate academic calendar for safety reasons,” students were told in a communication from a Coronavirus Planning Team on campus.

The semester will begin on Aug. 31, eliminates the Columbus Day weekend break and ends at the Thanksgiving break, instead of having students return in December for finals.

It is a plan that is being used by a growing number of higher education institutions across the country — among them Notre Dame, the University of South Carolina, Rice and Creigthon — to avoid a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Connecticut, UConn said it won’t announce its fall semester plans until the end of June, officials there said. At the University of Bridgeport, Interim Provost Tarek Sobh said the plan for the fall is still under discussion.

“No definitive answer yet,” Sobh said.

At Quinnipiac University in Hamden, spokesman John Morgan said no precise decisions have been made on what the academic calendar may look like but that in-classroom instruction and on-campus activities are anticipated. Same with Fairfield University. “Fairfield is considering various scenarios to ensure academic continuity and community vibrancy, while also being mindful of state and local public health guidelines,” Jennifer Anderson, a university spokeswoman said.

At Sacred Heart, the plan will give students the same number of instructional hours without starting the semester earlier in August

— as schools such as Notre Dame — are doing.

But the calendar will limit the number of trips students will need to make between home and campus, which may result in additional virus testing and possible selfisolation.

Sacred Heart expects 5,500 full time undergraduates in the fall, and of those, 3,280 will be residence students.

The calendar for graduate students, most of whom are commuters, will not change, although they, too, would be encouraged to wrap up on-ground activities before Thanksgiving when possible.

The plan calls for faculty to be prepared to deliver course materials both in person and virtually so students will be able to seamlessly switch to alternative modes of teaching at a moment’s notice should a spike in the virus require a change in plans.

“We had to pivot quickly this past spring with very little warning.” the message to students said. “With the time we now have to plan and prepare, we are confident that our hybrid classes will allow for the same close connections with your professors and fellow classmates that we know you value.”

The university will reopen with a stockpile of more than 50,000 masks, 30,000 gallons of hand sanitzer, face shields and thermometers. Officials there have also made plans for contact tracing and containment should someone test positive.

Outside of dorm rooms and offices, students and staff on campus will have to wear masks. Guests on campus will be limited. There will be more takeout and mobile ordering options from dining halls.

Sacred Heart’s planning committee has about 30 people on it.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Two years ago, freshman Brian Rice, of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., hangs a flag on the wall of his room in Toussaint Hall, a newly opened dormitory on the campus of Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield. Rice is helped here by his sister, Meg, who was a senior at the school, and their mother Christie.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Michael Carriger, executive director for instructional innovation at the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, leads a faculty webinar in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic from his Stratford home in March.