Some colleges and universities across the country are planning to start their spring semesters in a virtual setting due to the omicron variant, but at least two Arizona universities don’t have plans to do the same.
Northern Arizona University intends to move forward with plans for in-person classes for the spring semester which starts Jan. 10 and mostly in-person activities, said university President José Luis Cruz Rivera in a Monday statement.
“Based on our successful management of the Delta variant during the fall semester, we are planning for a full in-person living and learning experience on our Flagstaff Mountain Campus with academic courses offered as scheduled throughout our statewide sites,” he said. “We are confident in the effective protocols that we have in place and our ability to adjust to the changing environment.”
NAU will continue to require masks in certain settings, and provide vaccines, boosters and COVID-19 testing. NAU will also remain attentive to any developments with the virus and will be prepared to pivot as needed, Cruz Rivera said.
Meanwhile, Grand Canyon University is monitoring “the rise in COVID cases across the country and the status of the new Omicron variant,” but said it’s moving ahead with full in-person instruction and campus activities with little or no restrictions, the university told KJZZ in a statement.
“GCU still highly encourages students and employees to receive the COVID vaccine and booster and we have those available on campus for anyone who wants one, but they are not required,” a GCU spokesman said in a statement. “That approach, combined with our isolation/quarantine protocols, contact tracing and voluntary testing efforts, worked very well in the fall semester, with lower numbers of positive COVID cases on our campus than we saw at many university settings.”
GCU is also not requiring students to report a negative test before they return to campus, it said in a Dec. 23 COVID update.
Arizona State University and the University of Arizona did not respond to requests for comment on their plans for the spring semester.
