Dealing With COVID-19, in January
Scott Jaschik
January 3, 2022
Omicron’s arrival leads many colleges to shift plans for the semester that starts today on many campuses. Some colleges face criticism for doing so, and some face criticism for not making changes.
Remember the start of the fall semester, when college presidents spoke about how their institutions could resume normal operations?
Fast-forward to the last weeks of December, and it’s clear the pandemic isn’t close to being gone. Omicron, a variant of the coronavirus, has spread in the United States and is now the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 found here.
Many colleges, especially those where the winter quarter or spring semester begins today, are adjusting their academic calendars. Some colleges are holding a few weeks of classes online, and some of those colleges are discouraging students from returning to campus. Other colleges have delayed the start of their semesters. Some are switching the start of the semester to online only. January terms, in which students study one subject for a few weeks, have largely gone online. Some colleges announced their decisions before Christmas. Other announcements came on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
