Indiana University Suspends Face-To-Face Teaching On All Campuses Into April; Purdue Requires Students To Take Courses Online
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (CBS) -- Indiana University announced Tuesday that it is halting face-to-face classroom teaching for two weeks after spring break amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Spring break is scheduled from March 15 to 22. Afterward, students on all IU campuses will be only taught remotely for two weeks, from March 23 to April 5.
Face-to-face teaching is scheduled to resume on Monday, April 6, but that could change given the evolving situation with the virus.
During the period, students are advised to travel home to their permanent residences away from campus – though IU campuses and residence halls will remain open.
Meanwhile, university-sponsored or affiliated international travel is suspended through April 5, and personal international travel is strongly discouraged.
University-affiliated domestic travel outside Indiana is also suspended through April 5. Personal travel outside Indiana is discouraged unless students are returning home.
There have been no case of COVID-19 identified on any IU campus. But two IU students have self-reported presumptive positive tests for the virus after visiting a country identified as Level 3 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while studying abroad, the university said.
Those students are receiving care in their home cities and neither has returned to an IU campus, the university said.
The main IU campus is in Bloomington, Indiana. There is also an IU Northwest campus in Gary with a student body of about 3,500.
There are also campuses in Indianapolis (IUPUI), Columbus (IUPUC), Richmond (IU East), Fort Wayne, Kokomo, South Bend, and New Albany (IU Southeast).
Meanwhile, Purdue University advised that all faculty and staff should move their courses online before March 23, and continue as long as in-person instruction "seems inadvisable" – which could potentially mean the end of the semester.
While the Purdue campus will remain open after spring break, students must take their courses online effective March 23. Students who live in residence halls will have the option of whether to return to campus or not after spring break.
Purdue did not specify whether the new precautions affect only the main West Lafayette campus or all of the campuses. Purdue also has a campus in Hammond.