Ithaca College will extend spring break for one week and will move to a remote method of instruction from March 23 to April 3 in response to the coronavirus, officially named COVID-19.
In an email March 11 to the campus community, President Shirley M. Collado announced the college will continue spring break until March 20. Then, the college will hold classes online from March 23 to April 3. Students should be able to return to campus April 5, with in-person classes starting April 6, the email stated. The college may have to extend remote instruction through the end of the semester, according to the email.
All students should be off campus by 5 p.m. March 15, the email stated. Students who are unable to leave campus are able to fill out a request for approval to stay on campus.
Classes will be conducted through Sakai and Zoom, a video and audio conferencing app, according to the email.
The campus will remain open and staff will be expected to report at their usual time, the email stated.
In an email to the campus community March 10, Rosanna Ferro, vice president for student affairs and campus life, and La Jerne Cornish, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, announced that the college is postponing or canceling all large, nonessential events scheduled to take place on campus through March 31.
Events canceled by the college include the Ithaca College Spring Band Concert scheduled for March 11, Educational Technology Day 2020 scheduled for March 19, Ithacon 2020 scheduled March 21 and 22 and the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival scheduled from March 23 to 29. The email stated that all events that involve 100 people or more fall under the standard for cancellation. The college will update the list of event cancellations March 27.
In addition, all campus visits for admissions are being postponed through the end of March, according to the email. Athletic events that are scheduled to take place on campus are not canceled, but the college is evaluating these events and consulting with conference and national athletics governing organizations.
There are currently no reported cases of the coronavirus in Tompkins County, according to the email.
On March 10, Cornell University released a statement that all instruction will shift online following the university’s spring break until the end of the semester. Cornell’s spring break is scheduled to begin March 28. According to the statement, students are to return to their permanent residences and not return to Cornell’s campus, but the university will honor requests for exemptions when essential.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement March 11 announcing that all SUNY and CUNY institutions will be closing March 19 and students will be asked to return to their permanent residences and instruction will shift online. Several private institutions in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, including Columbia University in New York City, Princeton University in New Jersey and Harvard University in Massachusetts are also closing or shifting to online learning.
As of March 11, approximately 1,209 people in 41 states and Washington, D.C., have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a New York Times database, and approximately 37 have died. There are 213 confirmed cases in New York, but there have been no reported deaths.
