PLU delays in-person learning by a week, announces phase-in plan amid COVID-19 uptick
Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma announced plans Monday to return to in-person learning for the upcoming academic year.
In an email to The News Tribune, director of communications Zach Powers said PLU officials “are updating our plans to include a measured and phased return to in-person learning, a decrease in the number of in-person classes we will offer, decreases in residential capacity, and a comprehensive testing plan.”
“Our goal is to reduce housing density enough for every student residing on campus to be assigned a single room, limiting close contact in common living spaces and shared bathrooms,” Powers said. “That would put us at 850, about 350 down from last year.”
The email elaborated that “all learning will be remote for at least the first week of class” and then transition to “in-person learning after the first week,” which “will happen when doing so is supported by public-health authorities and aligns with faculty preferences.”
Powers said “the first week gives extra flexibility for adequate testing and quarantine periods for our campus community.”
The plan also is to require remote learning for three weeks after the Thanksgiving break, extended passing periods and in-person instruction priority given to certain classes such as those taking place in labs. Additionally, there will be an offer to undergraduate students for a “PLUS Year,” which would give them a tuition-free additional year at PLU.
The decision comes a week after another college in Tacoma, the University of Puget Sound, announced all remote learning for the coming academic semester.
In response to questions about the differences in response, Powers identified PLU’s strategy as being based on “unique” circumstances.
“Every university has to consider its unique safety challenges and opportunities when it comes to our campuses, our student bodies, our resources,” Powers said.
The health director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Dr. Anthony Chen, told The News Tribune last week in an interview that “right now the way that our cases are going and the widespread community transmission, it’s just not safe” for in-person instruction.
In response to questions about Chen’s statement, Powers said, “We have been working in lock-step with the county health department since February.”
PLU is hoping to address safety concerns with “a comprehensive testing plan” which will have “on-site testing” for both incoming students as well as those with symptoms or those who might have come into contact with a positive case.
In the event of an outbreak, Powers said, there are “plans in place for quarantining and shifting to remote learning if needed.”
Powers also encouraged students “to share their questions or concerns on our Coronavirus Update site or with the Office of the President.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 5:10 AM.
