FAYETTEVILLE -- All classes will continue to be taught via remote instruction through Aug. 3, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville announced Tuesday.
UA's new-student orientation sessions scheduled for the summer also have been changed to a virtual experience.
In-person classes for UA students have been suspended since March 12 because of the new coronavirus.
The university last year had 8,709 students enroll in early summer classes, the Summer I session and May intersession, a UA spokesman said.
The announcement Tuesday extends the online-only classes through UA's Summer II session, which last year had an enrollment of 4,397 students not also enrolled in the earlier summer session, UA spokesman John Thomas said.
"Grading policies for summer sessions are still under consideration," Thomas said.
UA is allowing undergraduate students this spring to choose a form of pass/no credit grading for each course after viewing their letter grades, with graduate students also being given a chance to request such grading through their degree programs.
Opting for a "pass" grade rather than a passing letter grade means the course would not count in a student's grade-point average.
The university's new-student orientation sessions will include live advising sessions done remotely with individual students, said Suzanne McCray, UA's dean of admissions and vice provost for enrollment.
The virtual orientation under development will include several parts or phases, with the first phase to take place in May.
"The purpose for this orientation as always will be to engage students with our campus, enroll them in classes that will lead to graduation, answer any questions they may have, and support them as they prepare to move from the high school learning environment to the college one," McCray said in an email.
Last year, 4,652 new freshman and transfer students attended an on-campus orientation, McCray said. She said an $85 orientation fee remains in place, adding that in the past some transfer students paid the same fee for an online orientation.
"This charge covers staff, programming, enrollment, and now an online company to assist with additional production costs," McCray said.
Metro on 04/08/2020