On Oct. 13, Milligan University announced its plans for the spring semester regarding the present virus COVID-19.
According to an email sent out by President Bill Greer, the winter break will be extended by two weeks which results in a delay for the start of the spring semester. Classes will begin on Jan. 25 instead of Jan. 11 as first intended. The semester will end as previously scheduled with the last day of classes being Apr. 23, and finals being wrapped up on Apr. 29. Because of the extended winter break, the students at Milligan will not be having a spring break.
The cancelation of spring break has been a hot topic among the students in the past week.
“I understand that they have to take certain precautions to maintain our physical health, but I believe that the spring semester is normally harder than the fall semester even with a break. I don’t even want to imagine how difficult it will be mentally without having some time off,” said sophomore Hope Manifold.
Like the fall semester, Milligan will continue having face-to-face classes with the addition of hybrid formats and some courses being taught completely remotely in the spring. The spring schedule will be released on Oct. 27.
A fully online option for the spring semester became available to all students, except for international students, on Oct. 23. The online option for the spring semester has the same requirements as for the online option provided this fall.
“Just as we did for the fall, our plans for the spring semester will involve an approach that maintains a commitment to providing Milligan’s distinctive educational experience while ensuring everyone’s health and safety, while also doing all we can to mitigate the risk and spread of COVID-19 within our campus community.”, President Greer said in the announcement.
Even though the spring semester is intended to be similar to the fall semester, it does come with a significant difference for Milligan’s international students. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s guidelines that were updated at the end of August, international travelers do not have to quarantine upon arrival to the United States. Housing will also remain open for international students who do not plan on returning home over the break according to an email sent out by Heather Cramer on Oct. 23.