On Monday morning, the University of Texas (UT) System Board of Regents discussed plans for the fall semester across UT institutions amid the ongoing pandemic, ultimately giving autonomy to presidents across the state.
James B. Milliken, UT Chancellor, began by highlighting how successful the shift to online learning went during the spring semester as UT universities closed due to COVID-19. Milliken assured that students were able to continue their classes and most set to graduate, did, despite the adversities of the online shift.
Despite the “relative success” of the spring semester, UT said that a survey found most students would reconsider registration and attendance if the fall semester went online again.
The President’s Office at UTEP sent out a survey earlier this month to gather student opinions to determine how to move forward in the fall.
“We are using your feedback to develop a better mixture of face-to-face, hybrid and online courses for the fall,” said the e-mail. “With this work nearly complete, we expect to release a significant portion of the updated fall course schedule in early July.”
Each campus is unique, Milliken said, but a standard plan is to begin the fall semester in August and end in-person instruction by Thanksgiving. However, he said flexibility is the central concern, and campuses will need to adjust their schedule accordingly.
Each institution will offer a combination of in-class, hybrid, and online courses, according to Milliken. Currently, UTEP offers more than 4,300 different course sections each semester that need modification to the current situation.
UT Regent Janiece Longoria said the UT System is moving to allow institution presidents to implement detailed plans for the fall semester, ultimately leaving the decision up to UTEP President Heather Wilson.
UTEP is still working on a schedule for the fall semester that will be announced sometime in July.
Paulina Astrid Spencer may be reached at [email protected]
