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HOUGHTON -- Michigan Technological University will suspend all face-to-face instruction and go to online only classes starting Monday through at least April 17 due to fears of potentially spreading the coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19., university officials announced Wednesday.
All MTU instructors are expected to contact students no later than Wednesday, March 18, with further information about course delivery. Students can return to campus or stay at another place of residence during the suspension, the university stated in a printed news release.
If they remain on campus, they are expected to practice appropriate social distancing and enhanced preventative public health and hygiene measures. Dining services and residential housing will remain open and operational.
High-risk populations are advised to stay off campus.
"The health, safety, and security of our campus is of utmost importance and a tenet on which we pride ourselves as an institution. Therefore, Michigan Tech is taking the following preventative actions to mitigate the impacts associated with the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus on our campus and in our community," MTU President Rick Koubek
said in a written statement.
Michigan Tech also will put new protocols in place for travel: Any student or employee who has completed travel to either a Level 2 or Level 3 country or who believe they may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus will not be allowed to return to campus for 14 days after the last date of possible exposure. The current list of Level 2 or Level 3 countries may be found on the CDC Information for Travel page.
Anyone connected to Michigan Tech who has traveled to a Level 2 or Level 3 country or has reason to believe they have been exposed should immediately email the university at covid-19@mtu.edu.
All international university-sponsored travel scheduled to depart before April 17 has been canceled, and Michigan Tech employees were advised to reconsider any university-sponsored domestic travel through April 17, the MTU statement said.
To view the full statement, go to https://blogs.mtu.edu/covid-19/2020/03/11/presidents-email/. For more information and updates, go to mtu.edu/covid-19,
Michigan State University also announced today it would suspend face-to-face classes until April 20, while Central Michigan University told students not to return after spring break, at least through March 20.
In Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin in Madison declared all face-to-face instruction will be suspended and students shouldn’t return to the campus after spring break ends March 22. The break will extend until at least April 10.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced Tuesday it was extending its spring break a second week, to run through March 29, and planned to move most classes online once students return.