FAYETTEVILLE -- The state's largest public and private universities on Thursday announced a shift to online instruction in response to concerns about the threat of the covid-19 illness, as did the biggest two-year college.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville suspended in-person courses through the end of the spring semester, Chancellor Joe Steinmetz announced in an email to the campus. Campus housing and dining services will remain open or students may return home as remote instruction begins Monday.
Schools in various parts of the state took action the same day Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced five new presumptive coronavirus cases, all of them in four central Arkansas counties, bringing the total to six.
Unlike action taken by some colleges Wednesday, several campuses announcing changes Thursday cited general concerns about the spread of the virus rather than specific cases of students or staff being exposed to someone with a presumptive case of covid-19 illness.
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"Basically, it's looking at the increased number of cases there are here in Arkansas," Steinmetz said in a phone interview, explaining the reason for suspending in-person classes in Fayetteville, roughly 230 miles from the state's first presumptive coronavirus case, a patient in Pine Bluff, announced Wednesday.
Four of the new presumptive cases announced Thursday had some type of contact with the first patient, Dr. Nathaniel Smith, the state's top health official, said.
Steinmetz said the shift to remote instruction is about trying to reduce the chance of illness spreading by means of people congregating together.
"In a classroom setting, which is very closed, that becomes the biggest issue," Steinmetz said. Health experts advise frequent hand-washing and to stay home if sick, as the virus causing the respiratory illness is thought to spread via close contact and through droplets from coughs and sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Along with UA-Fayetteville, the state's largest university with about 27,600 students, colleges shifting to remote instruction or announcing an imminent change included:
• Harding University, in Searcy and the state's largest private university, with about 4,800 students. Online instruction to begin Monday. Students -- now out on spring break -- are asked to remain home.
• Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, the state's biggest two-year college with 8,400 students. In-person classes suspended Monday, with online instruction starting Monday, March 16th.
• Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, the state's second-largest university with about 13,900 students. In-person classes continuing through March 20, except for trial days of virtual instruction. Online instruction begins March 30, after spring break.
• Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, about 11,800 students. In-person courses suspended today. Virtual learning starts Wednesday.
• University of Central Arkansas in Conway, about 10,800 students. Immediate suspension of in-person classes. Online instruction begins Tuesday.
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock, about 9,600 students. Immediate suspension of in-person classes and shift to online instruction.
• Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, about 4,000 students. Online-only instruction begins today.
• Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, a private university with about 1,600 students. Courses cancelled next week. Online format instruction begins March 30, after the scheduled spring break. Students in campus housing asked to leave by Sunday.
• Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, about 4,500 students. In-person classes suspended beginning Monday. Fully online instruction begins March 30 after spring break.
• John Brown University in Siloam Springs, a private university of about 2,300 students. In-person classes suspended beginning Monday. Residential housing closes March 21. Online instruction starts March 30, after spring break.
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences also has asked its students to stay off of campus, for the most part, indefinitely. Spokeswoman Andrea Peel said students would be allowed to come to campus in certain circumstances, including to take tests. Tests will be staggered so that not all students will take them at the same time, Peel said.
Other schools on Wednesday took at least temporary action to shift to online instruction, including the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the University of Arkansas at Monticello, where students had indirect or direct contact with the Pine Bluff patient with a presumptive case of covid-19.
Large universities preparing for possible online-only instruction but yet to announce changes as of Thursday evening included the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
Henderson State, in announcing its change, cited possible contacts with presumptive covid-19 patients.
"While the Henderson campus has no suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at this time, we were notified that seven Henderson nursing students and one faculty member participated in clinicals at Arkansas Children's Hospital where an employee tested presumptive positive for the virus," Henderson State's announcement reads.
The University of Central Arkansas had a student test negative for covid-19 Wednesday, the school had announced. The student had possibly been exposed to the virus after travelling outside the state, the school had said. The university's statement Thursday said no one on campus had been diagnosed with the illness.
UA-Fayetteville, like several schools in the state, has spring break scheduled from March 23-27.
"No one really wanted to think anything big of it," Parker King, an accounting major at UA-Fayetteville, said of the illness. "But I feel like the past 48 hours have been just a frenzy."
With in-person classes suspended suddenly, "I think the whole campus is just shocked," King said.
King said he lives in a fraternity house and was unsure if he would have to move out soon. But the campus-wide email from Steinmetz stated that "this is not a closure" for the campus, with "housing, dining and other services" continuing to be provided.
The university has about 4,950 students living in campus housing, including approximately 2,700 freshman, a UA spokesman said.
Steinmetz, in a phone interview, said fraternity and sorority houses would stay open.
"The operations of the campus, for the most part, will still go on," Steinmetz said.
He said he spoke to a group of senior students earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the university announced faculty should be prepared to deliver remote instruction no later than March 30.
Speaking to those students, "I gave them the assurance that we would do what we can to make sure they would graduate on time," Steinmetz said.
Large numbers of colleges and universities in the U.S. this week have announced the shift to remote learning, including large public universities in neighboring states. Some schools have given a date before the end of a term for when they would reassess the circumstances of the illness and possibly restart in-person classes.
Steinmetz said several working groups at UA have examined issues relating to the new coronavirus.
He said extending the suspension of in-person classes through the semester "gives a better planing environment for both the students and the faculty."
No decision has yet been made about spring commencement ceremonies, Steinmetz said.
Information for this report was provided by Emily Walkenhorst of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 03/13/2020