A Longer School Day and Maybe Classes on Saturdays: Top Officials Discusses Pandemic Impact on Fall Semester
Texas A&M’s Study Abroad Program Put on Hold
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – School days will run longer, and some students might have classes on Saturdays, but all of the universities in The Texas A&M University System will open in the fall with face-to-face instruction.
Chancellor John Sharp and other leaders within the Texas A&M System discussed forthcoming adjustments to college life during an interview program that will air Thursday on select public television stations as part of the series, “COVID-19: The Texas A&M System Responds.”
Students in College Station will be starting the semester earlier than usual. Texas A&M Provost Carol Fierke said that the main move-in process for students will begin Aug. 8, and classes will begin Aug. 19. Classes will end for the semester before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 24, with many online finals after the holiday.
“Being smart, safe and deliberate will help us return to the important work of educating our students,” Chancellor Sharp said. “You can take classes online, but you can’t become an Aggie on line. That sentiment applies to each of our other universities, too.”
Provost Fierke also mentioned halting the university’s study-abroad program (the largest in the country), creating a mixture of online and in-person classes and the process of returning to laboratories. The school day will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (except on Fridays), and administrators are considering Saturday classes, she added.
The show features additional need-to-know, back-to-school information from Provost Fierke and from James Hallmark, the System’s Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
Plans for testing to diagnose COVID-19 and for contact tracing were outlined by Greg Hartman, Senior Vice President and COO of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Hartman is also the System’s Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives.
The interview program will air 7 p.m. Thursday on KAMU-TV in Bryan/College Station and on other Texas public television affiliates. (Check local listings in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Waco and Amarillo.) It also will be on the System’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/JYtgBDQzzgI
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation with a budget of $6.3 billion. The System is a statewide network of 11 universities; a comprehensive health science center; eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and the RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M System educates more than 151,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion in FY 2019 and helped drive the state’s economy.
Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
(512) 289-2782 cell
lcopelin@tamus.edu