Going remote: Graduation and first month of spring 2021 semester to be virtual
The spring 2021 graduation ceremony and the first month of the spring semester at the University of Colorado Boulder will be virtual, Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano announced on Dec. 10. In his announcement, DiStefano informed students that due to COVID-19 projections, officials have decided that the first month of classes, from Jan. 14 to Feb. 14, will be remote. Starting Feb. 15, the university intends to resume some in-person courses and on-campus activities. The university hopes to confirm this plan by Jan. 14.
One of the primary reasons for this decision is due to Boulder County having a Level Red status on the COVID-19 dial dashboard, meaning there is severe risk due to over 350 people per 100,000 contracting COVID-19 within a two-week incidence. As of Dec. 10, Boulder County has a two-week cumulative incidence of 618.6. During a press conference, DiStefano and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke said the university aims to be in Level Orange before bringing students back onto campus.
“For me, to go down to the orange level is really important for us to make the decision about bringing students back,” said DiStefano. The Level Orange indicates that there are 175 to 350 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
“The thing that is really important is that in Level Red, that personal gathering limitation of two people and the way that it would have that effect on the student experience is really the thing that we’ve been most concerned about,” added O’Rourke. “Once you move to Level Orange, there is a greater capacity to be able to provide the overall experience that the students are seeking, so that’s why we’ve really tried to target our decision making to be based around the shift from Level Red back to Level Orange.”
Students living in Bear Creek in the spring will be allowed to move in starting on Jan. 10 and will have to sign up for a move-in appointment. For students living in the residence halls, the CU Boulder Housing & Dining website states that move-in will begin on Feb. 7, if in-person instruction resumes on Feb. 15. Students will need to sign up for a move-in appointment, and those who are in need of housing before Feb. 7 should contact student housing at studenthousing@colorado.edu.
The cost of room and board for residence halls is expected to decrease due to the delayed move-in. The Housing & Dining website states that “previously published spring room and board rates will be reduced by approximately 25%.” However, the move-in date of Feb. 7 could be further delayed if the incidence of COVID-19 does not decrease in Boulder County.
“When the students do come back, we really want to make sure that the experience is not one where they’re experiencing the frustration that they felt when we moved between learning status and gathering status last fall,” said O’Rourke, explaining that students living in residence halls during the fall semester experienced hardship when the personal gathering limitation of two people began– something the university hopes to avoid in the spring.
CU Boulder officials have also decided to hold the spring 2021 commencement virtually. “We will do our best to avoid the back-and-forth shifts that created uncertainty for our campus community in the fall,” wrote DiStefano in his announcement. “We didn’t arrive at the commencement decision lightly, but firmly believe it’s the right call.” The Commencement Office sent an update to spring 2021 degree candidates about the decision, stating that the graduation ceremony will take place via livestream on May 6, 2021.
Some students took to social media to express their disappointment, voicing concerns over the cost of tuition and feelings that the commencement decision is premature. One senior, Claire Sweeney, created a petition on behalf of the CU Boulder Class of 2021 for an in-person commencement, writing, “We believe the in person Spring 2021 graduation ceremony is realistic as the pandemic status will be drastically changing over the next 5 months with the release of vaccines and approaching summer months […] We are willing to work with the Administration to compromise and create a graduation experience we can all positively look back on.” The petition has raised over 1,000 signatures thus far.
Below are images of some comments left on CU Boulder’s Instagram post that announced their decision. Names and profile photos have been hidden to protect users’ privacy.
DiStefano said that there are not any discussions about lowering the cost of tuition at this time.
“We feel very strongly that students are getting a quality education with remote learning, and we’ve invested in remote learning with our faculty through our Center for Teaching and Learning,” said DiStefano.
In regards to making the decision about commencement now rather than waiting, DiStefano and O’Rourke expressed that the decision is primarily based on the COVID-19 dial and current projections.
“At this point in time and as we even look to the future, there doesn’t seem to be the opportunity to host the type of in-person commencement that we normally do,” said DiStefano, sharing that in the past there have been commencements that had about 20,000 individuals in attendance.
O’Rourke agreed, explaining that the placement of Boulder County in the Level Red zone as of now and the current projections for COVID-19 indicate that a ceremony in May would not be feasible. He added that even if Boulder was able to reach a Level Green, which seems unlikely, the number of people allowed to gather for an outdoor event is limited to 500, as determined by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment on their COVID-19 dial.
“You only get to Level Green when you have less than zero to 75 cases within the community per 100,000 people, and based on all of the projections that we’ve seen so far, it would be really difficult for [us] to believe that we were going to be able to, as a county, get into that Level Green type of capacity,” said O’Rourke. “And even if we were there, we’d still be limited to 500 people.”
When asked if smaller, college and department-based ceremonies were considered, O’Rourke said that due to the sizes of colleges, it also did not seem like a realistic option.
“Obviously, some of the colleges themselves are really, really large. Much bigger than the 250 or 500 people maximum capacity limitations, so that was what was really playing into the thinking around those units,” said O’Rourke.
The university officials also explained that part of the reason for making the decision now instead of later is to help offer more clarity and expectations that students can count on, as compared to the fall semester.
“With respect to the learning experience, one of the things we’ve learned is that the specter of uncertainty for our faculty and our students was very disruptive to them. So what we’re trying to do is to provide as much certainty and lead time as possible, recognizing that we don’t have a perfect crystal ball into the future,” Provost Russell L. Moore said.
There will be a campus Q&A session on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 12:30 p.m. (MST) for students, faculty, staff and campus community members to voice their concerns and ask questions.
