Penn State Moves Forward with Online Classes

Story posted March 21, 2020 in CommRadio, News by Jake Starr

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Over the course of a week, Penn State students went from returning home for spring break to not knowing when they will be leaving their houses again.

On Wednesday, March 18, Penn State made the decision to shift all learning to online for the remainder of the semester, following the lead of many schools around the country. Penn State originally shifted to online learning until April 6, but the increased spread of COVID-19 prompted the school to extend that.

In addition, the university has postponed graduation ceremonies until a later date to adhere to the CDC’s guidelines of limiting gatherings of more than 10 people. Many more logistics are in the process of being figured out as Penn State and its students face an unprecedented circumstance.

Last weekend, students who live on campus had the opportunity to return to school to gather belongings but did not move out, as they intended on returning on April 6. With the latest developments, Penn State announced it is in the process of determining when it would be safe for students to return to campus to move out.

In a letter to the Penn State community, Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Nicholas P. Jones addressed how Penn State will continue to operate through a difficult situation.

“Penn State can never truly ‘close,’ and the governor’s order recognizes many exceptions that apply to the University’s operations,” Jones said. “We continue to deliver educational and other mission-critical services that necessitate maintaining critical campus operations, from supporting our students, to maintaining vital research and lab work, to care for animals and other important needs at our campuses and in communities across the commonwealth.”

While we can no longer deliver on-air material, we at CommRadio will continue to do our best to provide the best content we can on our website and on social media. We look forward to continuing to engage with you online and getting back on the radio, whenever that may be.

 

Jake Starr is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jas7954@psu.edu.