VPAA Messari has communicated today that students will have to expect a continuity of this semester’s mode of teaching for Spring 2021. Only freshmen will have face-to-face courses, while other students will have to expect a full online experience regardless of whether they are on-campus or not.
Dr. Messari has also shared that the administration will support faculty members who reach an agreement with their students regarding the mode of teaching, as there are numerous cases of classes being converted into hybrid or face-to-face modes only.
“Whenever faculty and students who will be on campus reach an agreement and decide to switch their learning experiences to a presential one (either fully Face to Face or in a hybrid mode), we will support them in making that possible, as we did earlier this Fall semester.”
Dr. Nizar Messari, Vice-President of Academic Affairs
Reactions and other considerations
Many students expressed that the decision to continue with the same model of teaching as the Fall semester is disappointing, given that many have shared how their academic experience has decreased sharply in the last few months. Students also inquired about the ability to cancel the housing reservation (As the Housing Department has sent an email to eligible students last week to make their housing reservations, though the list of students who were targeted is still a subject of controversy).
On the other hand, new speculations are now arising regarding who will have access to campus next semester, how will the campus experience improve or degrade, and whether the management of special permissions to access campus will be subject to new criteria for next semester.
