Northern Kentucky University announced Tuesday that it is delaying the start of spring classes by one week, pushing the return to Tuesday, January 18.
In a message to the campus community, President Ashish Vaidya cited “eye-opening” COVID-19 cases in the region, with record infections of 120 per 100,000 people each day.
“The regional transmission rate has risen to 1.3, which is also as high as we have seen,” Vaidya said.
“With that change, our spring schedule matches most of the other Kentucky universities’ start dates,” Vaidya said. “To account for the lost week, final examinations will occur the week after commencement. Summer sessions will also need to be adjusted. We will release a new, comprehensive spring and summer academic calendar soon.
The university opened at noon on Tuesday, but move-in day for residence hall students is delayed till Friday, January 14.
“We are anticipating your return for spring semester, and we are taking every precaution to make sure we are able to provide you the highest quality education in the safest environment possible by delaying classes one week,” Vaidya said. “Anyone who needs to move in sooner will be accommodated, and a message with further details is forthcoming from Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Eddie Howard.”
For staff, the university is asking supervisors whether there are opportunities to work from home temporarily, while keeping in mind that there will be students on campus in need of services.
The university recommended to faculty to include fewer in-person class activities for the initial two weeks of class after the January 18 start date.
“There is no prohibition against in-person classes and we do encourage engaging with students as possible,” Vaidya said. “Note also that we are not at this time approving changes in course modalities. We are asking for short-term adjustments perhaps replacing some in-person activities with hybrid options in order to temporarily de-densify campus.”
The university is also considering additional mitigation efforts including potential alterations to dining and other services, and if more changes are to come, they will be announced later this week, Vaidya said.
On Monday, Governor Andy Beshear reported the highest single-day total of positive COVID-19 cases in Kentucky (which happened on December 30) and the state’s highest-ever positivity rate, now over 20%. St. Elizabeth Healthcare on Monday also announced that it is pausing elective, non-emergency surgeries that would require admissions due to the growing number of COVID-19 patients.
“It appears that illnesses from infection with Omicron are, at least for those who are vaccinated and boosted, significantly milder than prior variants,” Vaidya said. “However, Omicron remains dangerous to the unvaccinated and those who haven’t received a third dose of the vaccines. We encourage everyone who can to get vaccinated and boosted as soon as they are able to do so. The vaccines have proven extraordinarily safe and highly effective in preventing serious COVID-19 illness. The indoor mask mandate will remain in effect.”
-Staff report