La Roche University plans in-person classes in fall

La Roche University will fully reopen for in-person instruction in the fall, leaders announced Monday. The semester will start Aug. 23.

The university will follow a regular schedule — unlike last fall, when many campuses adjusted breaks and course scheduling in attempts to avoid major covid-19 surges around the holidays and breaks. At La Roche, the fall semester started later than normal, and there was no fall break, as there typically is. Students didn’t return to campus after Thanksgiving, taking their final examinations from home.

“La Roche University is committed to providing students with a meaningful college experience while adapting to the changing circumstances of the covid-19 pandemic,” said Howard Ishiyama, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “We are excited to open as an in-person campus, hosting students in our classrooms and residence halls as well as our athletic fields.”

There will still be a “wide range” of online courses, however, and nearly all classrooms will have hybrid technology to support remote learning.

Brady Butler, a university spokesman, said there may be an approval process for students wishing to take advantage of “hyflex” options, but those details haven’t been decided yet.

“We really want the students back on campus,” Butler said. “But the options are there.”

Most universities in the region and nationwide are nearing the end of an academic year significantly altered by the covid-19 pandemic. La Roche’s health and safety plan included mask requirements, daily temperature and symptom screenings and reduced density in residential housing.

Butler said the goal for next fall is to have full capacity for residential housing, as well, though there will likely still be spaces reserved for quarantining. It all depends on what the federal and state health guidelines suggest in the summer, closer to the start of the semester, he said.

The university of around 1,500 students said it recorded only nine confirmed cases of covid-19 last fall. The university’s online covid data dashboard, which began Jan. 25, says there have been 10 cases on campus so far this semester — seven students and three employees.