Mercer to cancel classes until March 23, then move classes online
Mercer announced late Sunday night that all classes will be suspended until March 23 and that after that, all classes will be delivered online until April 3 amid concerns about COVID-19.
By that time, Mercer University President William Underwood said in a release, the university will decide what to do about the rest of the spring semester. Students at the Academic Health Sciences Center will receive communication from their deans regarding any changes to their clinical rotations, experiential education and testing, Underwood said.
Underwood said that students who cannot return home due to travel restrictions or other complications will be allowed to remain on campus. All student services will remain available. Students who return home are asked to inform the Office of the Dean of Students by calling 478-301-2685.
“Many students in our residential community in Macon do not have the option of leaving,” Underwood said in the release. “Some have nowhere to go. Some don’t currently have a home to which they can return. For some, their home is not accessible with current travel restrictions. For others, their home is not situated to allow virtual classwork. We have others whose parents have told us their son or daughter is safer here than they would be at home. We have others receiving needed student services that are not available at their homes.
“A number of our students have articulated how important it is for them to complete research and design projects they have been working on for months and even years. I will not exclude students from campus in these circumstances, something that other institutions have been reasonably criticized for doing.”
Mercer also released the following reminders:
- We continue intensifying a number of sanitation-related precautions, and we urge our students to do the same.
- We have provided our students a hotline to call our School of Medicine physician practice group seven days a week, 24 hours a day. As a reminder to all, that number is (478) 301-7425. Any student who calls will receive a prompt response from a member of the Mercer Medicine team.
- Health care consultations remain available to all students, regardless of where they are located.
- Absent prior approval by a supervisor, all faculty and staff should observe regular work hours tomorrow.
While there have been on confirmed COVID-19 cases in Middle Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Sunday that the total number of cases in the state had risen to almost 100.
The announcement amends a previous announcement from Underwood that gave students the choice to continue in-person classes or change to a virtual learning environment.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 10:32 PM.
