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Spring 2021 to implement face-to-face instruction

Humboldt State University’s spring 2021 semester will be a hybrid of face-to-face and online complete with Spring Break. It will follow the same pattern as seen and done during the fall 2020 semester.

The fall 2020 semester started with a two-week quarantine period of online classes and staying in housing. 

Students were tested twice throughout the period resulting in six students testing positive for coronavirus. These low positive test results, according to Jenn Capps, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, are the result of students and faculty taking the guidelines seriously.

“Hats off to our students for taking the social responsibility pledge seriously. When I drive by campus, everyone has their mask on,” Capps said. 

Spring 2021 makes awareness of spring break. Fall Break was not listed in the fall 2020 schedule. There was discussion behind the scenes, however, about Spring Break’s fate.

“I went to the Associated Students asking, ‘Should we move it? What should we do?’ A bunch of people had hundreds of things to say,” Capps said. “What I heard from so many students is, ‘we need a break. It’s stressful and exhausting.’”

The first two weeks of the spring semester beginning Jan. 19 will be virtual with returning students quarantining. On Feb. 1, the semester will transition to face-to-face instruction for a six-week period ending on March 12. 

Spring Break will be from March 15 to March 19 with a two-week quarantine period and virtual classes followed by six weeks of face-to-face instruction, which includes finals week.

“It is almost face-to-face instruction part one and part two,” Capps said about the plan currently in place.

HSU has worked alongside Humboldt County Department of Public Health, as well as HSU’s own Environmental Health & Safety Department, to come up with their plans and safety protocols. 

On the question of what happens in the scenario where a COVID-19 vaccine becomes widely available either before or during the spring semester, Capps said that HSU’s plan is “to work with the county’s public health and their best practice in place for the community and the county.”

Spring 2021 Face-to-Face instruction periods:
  • 01/19/21 – 01/29/21 (first 2 weeks) – virtual instruction only to allow the students a 2-week self-quarantine period.
  • 02/01/21 – 03/12/21 (6 weeks) – face to face instruction (following safety protocols developed by Environmental Health & Safety).
  • 03/15/21 – 03/19/21 (1 week) – Spring Break (no instruction).
  • 03/22/21 – 04/02/21 (2 weeks) – virtual instruction only to allow the students a 2-week self-quarantine period.
  • 04/05/21 – 05/14/21 (last 5 weeks + finals) – face to face instruction (following safety protocols developed by Environmental Health & Safety). 

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