Jacksonville University creates plan for students to return in August

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville University has published a plan for students and staff for when they return for the fall semester.

Face coverings will required in designated areas including classrooms. The university will give each student and employee one reusable face covering.

Students are asked to limit their gatherings to 10 people or fewer and to check their health daily. Before they return to campus, students should complete a medical history form online and all student athletes must be tested for COVID-19 when they return to campus.

Focusing on outside availability for students, the university will add outdoor culinary stations, more seating outside, and more grab-and-go options.

The semester will now end before Thanksgiving break for traditional undergraduate students. Classes will become a more hybrid model. While lectures will be in-person, more classwork will be online and lectures will also be streamed online for students who are isolating. Students must own or have access to a laptop to ensure this hybrid format and to continue classwork if another shutdown occurs.

When it comes to sports, no spectators will be allowed in the stands at the beginning of the semester. Students who do want to watch university sports and cheer on student athletes can do so online.

“There’s a couple things that are important for us all to remember come the fall, because things are changing,” President Tim Cost said in a video update. “We need to be flexible. A sense of shared personal responsibility. Respect for other people is going to matter on this campus. What you do is going to affect my health, and what I do is going to affect your health, and we’re in this together.”

© 2020 Cox Media Group