Florida universities to hold classes online, students to stay home due to coronavirus
All public universities in Florida have been directed to transition all in-person classes to online platforms effective immediately, a precautionary step to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. Students are also encouraged to go home, stay home and not return to campus for two weeks.
The Florida Board of Governors, which presides over the 12 public universities in the State University System of Florida, made the sweeping announcement Wednesday hours after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
The announcement encouraged students from universities that have already returned from spring break, including Florida International University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Polytechnic University and the University of Florida, to return home for at least two weeks.
Universities currently on spring break or going on spring break, including Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, the University of North Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of South Florida and the University of West Florida are under order to tell students not to return to campus for at least two weeks following the conclusion of spring break.
The Board of Governors said universities will continue to provide essential services, described as dining, counseling, health services, library services, etc., potentially on a limited basis or remotely. Each university with clinical and other non-classroom-based programs will communicate directly with those students.
Students are encouraged to remain off-campus. Universities have been tasked with developing a plan for providing residential accommodations for students who need assistance or must remain in place.
Some universities were already ahead of the curve in instructing faculty to prepare for remote instruction. FIU gave its faculty advance notice to prepare to move classes to online platforms. UF made that same call on Monday.
In an about-face, the University of Miami, a private university not in the State University System, announced early Thursday that it will extend its current spring break until March 23. After that, classes will be strictly online until at least April 4.
Effective March 15 through March 31, all campus events or meetings with 50 of more attendees, including external events, are canceled. UM changed its protocol to allow home athletic competitions to continue without fans.
Information on what Miami-Dade County Public Schools is doing to prepare can be found here.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Florida universities to hold classes online, students to stay home due to coronavirus."