Temple University will push back the start of the spring semester by eight days to Jan. 19 and eliminate spring break to limit the spread of COVID-19.
In an email to the Temple community on Monday, Executive Vice President and Provost JoAnne Epps detailed the plan aimed to allow students who leave campus for winter break at least two full weeks after New Year’s Day to self-quarantine before spring classes begin.
The prolonged break will also give schools and colleges the opportunity to offer additional online, short-duration winter session courses, Epps wrote.
Since spring semester classes will begin eight days later, Epps wrote that canceling spring break allows students to remain healthy and on schedule for the rest of the academic year while maintaining the same number of class days.
“Last year’s experience taught us that travel during spring break led to multiple positive cases among students, both nationwide and abroad,” Epps wrote. “This decision is an additional way of keeping our community healthy and safe.”
Temple will provide additional information on enhanced testing plans, the spring course schedule, on-campus housing, and other campus details in a series of announcements starting in the next several days, Epps wrote.
Penn announced on Oct. 1 that it will delay the start of the spring semester and shorten spring break. Penn will begin the semester one day after Temple on Jan. 20 and spring break will be reduced to two days on March 10 and 11. Penn plans to announce a more detailed spring semester plan by mid-November.
Temple’s announcement comes as COVID-19 cases increase in Pennsylvania at a rate comparable to April's transmission rates, NBC Philadelphia reported. The recent increase is mostly due to a rise in cases among 19 to 24-year-olds, or college-aged adults, NBC reported.
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