RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina State University announced on Thursday it will move all undergraduate classes online starting on Monday.
The announcement comes just one day after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill halted physical instruction on its campus. Several coronavirus outbreaks have occurred since classes began at both campuses on Aug. 10.
“The majority of NC State’s course hours are already online, but the remaining in-person and hybrid classes will move to online-only instruction for the remainder of the fall semester,” said an email to students from Randy Woodson, chancellor of N.C. State.
Woodson said students are free to remain living on campus if they so choose, but they can also get reimbursed housing expenses if they decide to leave their dorms to return home with their families.
“If you choose to move home, you can cancel your University Housing contract with no penalty, and you will be reimbursed the prorated amount for housing and dining based on the number of days you lived on campus,” Woodson said.
The University of North Carolina System has said that decisions on whether to shift to remote classes will be made by individual campuses.
In response to N.C. State’s announcement, UNC System President Peter Hans reiterated that every campus has different needs – and that each did careful planning on reopening.
“This hard work is being undermined by a very small number of students behaving irresponsibly off campus, which unfairly punishes the vast majority of their classmates who are following the rules,” he said.
