EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University announced Tuesday that most of its classes will shift to being remote-only over the next two weeks. The university also asked for students who were planning to live on campus to stay home.
This move comes as other universities are seeing outbreaks of COVID-19, including the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Notre Dame University; UNC is moving to all-remote classes after 130 students tested positive for the virus Monday. Notre Dame canceled classes for two weeks after a spike in cases.
"Effective immediately, we are asking undergraduate students who planned to live in our residence halls this fall to stay home and continue their education with MSU remotely," said a statement from MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. "While a vast majority of our classes already were offered in remote formats, we will work the next two weeks to transition those that were in-person or hybrid to remote formats."
There will be some exceptions for in-person classes, within the colleges of Law, Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine and Veterinary Medicine as well as all graduate programs.
MSU also asked off-campus students to consider staying in their home communities while they start the fall semester.
"This transition may not be easy for some, and we will make sure students have access to needed support areas such as mental health, information technology, student services and financial aid," the university tweeted.
In Stanley's letter to the campus community, he said the current status of the virus and seeing how it is spreading at other institutions informed their decision.
"It has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus," he said.
The university will issue refunds or credits to students who already paid for the fall semester. Stanley noted the complexity of this issue, with some students relying on on-campus housing or employment as well as international students needing housing.
"We have more decisions to make in the coming days about how best to make this transition, and we will share additional information with you as soon as we can," the letter read.
MSU is scheduled to start classes on Sept. 2.
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