Coronavirus: Austin Peay moves summer classes to online, other non-face-to-face instruction

(Posted March 27, 2020)

Austin Peay State University officials on Friday announced their decision to move all of this year’s face-to-face summer classes online or to other forms of non-face-to-face instruction.

“We appreciate everyone’s hard work and flexibility as we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic,” APSU President Dr. Alisa White wrote in an email to students, faculty and staff. “In order to continue to do what we can to mitigate the spread of the virus and ‘flatten the curve,’ we have decided to move all face-to-face Summer 2020 classes to non-face-to-face instruction.”

The move includes Maymester, summer terms I, II and III and the full summer term.

“Times are tough right now, but I’ve been gratified – although not surprised – by your response to a challenging situation,” White said in the email. “Governors find a way. #GovsLead.”

The move comes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world. On March 16, the university moved all classes at all campuses online for the rest of the spring semester. The university first suspended classes for 10 days on March 13.

In early March, we formed a special task force to minimize the spread and impact of the new coronavirus among the University’s students, faculty and staff.

Based on task force recommendations, since March 1, the University has:

Implemented a moratorium on University-related international travel.
Moved all classes, at all APSU campuses, to a non-face-to-face format of delivery for the remainder of the spring semester. Converting all of our classes to this format was a heroic task for faculty, and a challenge also for many students who had never taken courses that were offered outside of the usual face-to-face format. Our students and faculty are rising to the challenge.
Encouraged as many employees as possible to work remotely.
Suspended all official university events and student events and canceled all non-university events previously scheduled to meet on campus.
Worked with the University’s Office of Distance Education to host a series of webinars via Zoom to help with the move to online and other non-face-to-face education.
Delayed this spring’s commencement ceremony because of the Centers for Disease and Prevention’s guidelines to avoid public events.
Temporarily closed the Foy Fitness and Recreation Center.
Provided a laptop loan program to students in need of computer access now that the University isn’t offering face-to-face classes.
Encouraged students to move out of campus housing while keeping housing open for students with nowhere else to go.
Limited access to all campus buildings.

Students also can access the following resources:

Austin Peay’s Ann Ross Bookstore, operated by Barnes and Noble, is offering free access to eTextbooks for classes that began in January.
The University’s S.O.S. Food Pantry supports APSU’s students through troubling times by helping fight hunger.
The University Advancement Office recently set up the Govs Give Back Fund (now part of the S.O.S. Emergency Funds) to provide urgent financial assistance for students, faculty and staff who have recently suffered economic, medical or similar hardships. Several University donors have already contributed to this new initiative. Its early push was to add to the number of laptops we could loan to students who needed them to be able to continue with their classes.
Students without wireless, satellite or wired internet access can access a program implemented by the Federal Communication Commission. The Keep America Connected Pledge is designed to help ensure Americans do not lose their broadband or telephone connectivity as a result of these exceptional circumstances. More than 550 companies and associations have complied.

If you’d like more information regarding COVID-19 and the University’s response, click on www.apsu.edu/coronavirus for regular updates. At this time, we know of no students or staff who have tested positive for coronavirus.

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