Syracuse University has created a committee of 90 deans, faculty and staff to develop plans for offering on-campus classes in the fall, a university official said Wednesday.

The Fall 2020 Open Working Group will include nine subcommittees that will focus on areas such as athletics, academics and infrastructure, said John Liu, interim vice chancellor and provost, in an SU News release.

SU announced on March 16 that it would transition classes online for the final weeks of the spring semester due to the coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected 340,661 people in New York state and killed 22,013.

Chancellor Kent Syverud has said the university intends to bring students back to campus in the fall.

Instructors should plan to offer online teaching options for almost all courses, Liu said. The university intends to offer remote classes for students unable to attend the fall 2020 semester in-person.

Deans and department chairs will contact instructors with specific expectations and timelines for developing the courses, Liu said.

Liu also said the University Senate ad hoc committee tasked with creating a replacement course for first-year seminar SEM 100 is still developing a one-credit version of the course. SU is establishing an additional nine-person faculty committee to work toward implementing the revised course for fall 2021, he said.

The committee will review the curriculum the ad hoc committee proposes and provide feedback, Liu said.

Published on May 13, 2020 at 4:11 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3