Connor Woof (U-I photo)
The University of Iowa says it will keep its regular fall semester calendar when classes resume, but students will switch to on-line classes after going home for the Thanksgiving break.
The fall semester in Iowa City will begin August 24th and ending on December 18th. University of Iowa student body president, Connor Wooff, says he is glad they will have face-to-face classes and understands how bringing students back is a risk. He says they will be bringing students back from across the country and from a variety of different COVID situations.
Woof says a big key will be making sure the proper precautions are taken when students return. “We’re really trying to look at as a university and as a student government how can we continue to require and encourage public health regulations and recommendations,” he says.
Woof says getting back to campus is important to everyone. “Wanting to walk around on campus honestly is just what I am missing and that atmosphere,” according to Woof. “That is exactly what I am hearing from my friends, my classmates, the students we have heard from through town halls, and who have reached out via e-mail They want to be back in the community and the education they signed up for and the experience that they really committed to — especially we have 500-plus student organizations.”
He hopes that will get everyone to follow the safety guidelines. “Any way we can have that experience — but also maintaining a safe campus is what we are looking for. But there’s definitely that itch to be back,” Woof says.
Iowa State and UNI have decided to start classes one week earlier and end the fall semester the day before Thanksgiving. Administrators at those schools say they wanted to avoid having the students go home for the holiday and possibly be exposed to the virus and return to campus.