As students register for fall 2020 courses without knowing whether they will take place on campus or online, Washington University administrators are deciding whether to return to in-person instruction, continue distance learning or find a different solution altogether.

Chancellor Andrew Martin is leading a Fall Contingency Planning Committee composed of key University leaders to make decisions about the upcoming semester, in conjunction with the recommendations of infectious disease experts at the School of Medicine.

“We’re all hopeful for a return to ‘normal’ operations on campus and in our community, and looking forward to a time when we can be together again,” Martin wrote in a statement to Student Life. “When that might happen is obviously impossible to predict, but we’re taking steps to plan for our path forward.”

Several administrators emphasized the fact that no decision has yet been made.

“We are just beginning the process of thinking through what the fall semester may look like,” Interim Provost Marion Crain wrote in a statement to Student Life.

“As of today, we’re still planning for the fall semester to happen as scheduled, but obviously across the country the situation is fluid and we don’t have a lot of certainty—in fact, in St. Louis County, the stay-at-home order has been extended indefinitely—so we don’t have enough information to make our firm decision today,” Dean of Students Rob Wild said.

The committee’s first task will be to establish a date by which they will make and announce a final decision regarding the fall semester.

“I think there will need to be a decision in the next six to eight weeks, probably,” Dean of Sam Fox Carmon Colangelo said. “People want clarity sooner, but it’s making a quick decision versus making the right decision—I think it’s gonna take a little time and a little more information about how things are going in the country and in the world.”

Several options are being considered in light of public health recommendations and the decisions of peer institutions.

“[The University is] considering continuing online, they’re considering pushing back the start of school just a few months—which would mean school starts in November and the semester runs a bit longer—and a third option that was floated was a postponement even further than that,” Student Union President Ranen Miao said. “Obviously, none of those are ideal… but there are a lot of public health considerations.”

A recent survey of undergraduate institutions indicated that more than half were considering or had already decided to remain fully online for the fall 2020 semester.

Colangelo, who is on the Fall Contingency Planning Committee, said he wanted to hear rationales for each potential scenario, but pointed out that incoming international students may not be able to get visas in time to begin the semester in person.

“Some portion of our classes will stay online, in my view, because we have to consider the international students,” Colangelo said. “I just don’t think we’re all going to be able to come back in August.”

Some students have asked if there will be an online option in the event that campus opens but they do not yet feel safe returning, Colangelo added.

However, other students expressed frustration at the prospect of another semester online.

“After experiencing distance learning for the past several weeks, most students I’ve talked to would not hesitate to take a gap semester if courses were to be online again in the fall,” sophomore Olivia Schotz said. “At no fault of any party, the experience just isn’t the same as in-person classes, and we’d rather graduate slightly later than try to push through this forced system.”

Although the COVID-19 frequently asked questions page for admitted students claims that the University’s ability to offer remote instruction has been proven “by making this transition successfully during the spring semester,” Schotz disagreed.

“My course load has tripled with the projects and assignments that were pushed back by the extra week of spring break, and many of my professors now require us to watch long video lectures in addition to virtually attending class,” Schotz said. “It seems as though professors no longer respect my time because I’m at home. For example, since there’s no more pressure from the ten minute rule, my classes frequently go over time, meaning that I get no break from sitting and staring at my screen. These online courses aren’t sustainable.”

Universities nationwide, already struggling financially, have raised concerns about the economic impact of low enrollment in the fall from both incoming freshmen and returning students.

“Students are free to choose what they would like to do,” Wild said. “We’ve heard from many students who have shared with us that their preference is in-person education, and so is ours, but the reality is we may not be able to do that in the fall depending on how the situation unfolds, so we’re planning for every eventuality. If some students chose not to enroll in online instruction, we would be ready for that.”

Adding to the financial complications, many students have concerns about whether or not an online semester is worth paying the same tuition as an in-person semester. The University is planning to evaluate its tuition model based on the type of instruction being offered, according to Wild.

“To be very clear, there are still costs associated with doing online instruction—paying the faculty, the staff that helps support the faculty, libraries, those kinds of things—but we are very aware that there will be questions about tuition if we are in an online environment in the fall,” Wild said.

Distance learning in the fall would have one major advantage over distance learning in the spring, in that instructors would have a few months to evaluate the structure and content of their digital courses, instead of just a few days.

“It’s one thing to respond the way we did to having to finish out classes online,” Colangelo said. “Now we have to think about what happens if we start new classes—should we be actually changing the content because we have to deliver it differently? Should we have different classes? How quickly can we change that?”

Even in the best case scenario, the upcoming fall semester will likely be quite different from the ones preceding it.

“Everything’s on the table,” Wild said. “Universities are places that traditionally operate with people together sharing space, whether it’s space in a residence hall or at large events or in large lecture classes, so one of our focuses is going to be how we might be flexible as we think through what the fall semester looks like.”

“We’re making sure that expectations don’t just fall into the same old, because it isn’t the same,” Colangelo said. “We just have to try to figure out how to work with the students and accommodate what they’re experiencing. “

Before students can safely be allowed back on campus, COVID-19 testing must be expanded and prioritized, according to Executive Director of the Habif Health and Wellness Center Dr. Cheri LeBlanc. Rapid diagnostic tests should be widely available in order to swiftly identify and isolate newly infected individuals as well as anyone they may have come into contact with.

Alongside this increased testing, there will need to be adequate spaces on or around campus to isolate cases and quarantine contacts.

“We will need close collaboration with our infectious disease experts and colleagues at the medical school to continue to look after new cases that require hospitalization as well as our local public health department to help notify contacts,” LeBlanc wrote in a statement to Student Life. “The number of cases in St. Louis will impact their ability to treat and help manage our patients here at [Wash. U.].”

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the St. Louis metro area appears to be decreasing as of April 21. However, in spite of expert warnings that this trend may reverse if social distancing restrictions are lifted too soon, Missouri Governor Mike Parson has indicated that he is sympathetic to the protesters—including a small group in Clayton—clamoring for the state to be reopened immediately.

“This rapidly evolving situation makes decision making difficult,” LeBlanc wrote. “One wants to be sure to make thoughtful, informed decisions based on the best information available at the time.”

In the face of so much uncertainty, University administrators expressed their sympathy for students struggling to plan for the future.

“None of us have ever been through anything like this before,” Wild said. “We know that this is painful, and so our goal is to make sure we can return Wash. U. to the way that it was in a way that’s safe for our community.”

“We will provide an update as soon as we have information to share,” Martin wrote.