NEW ORLEANS – The University of Holy Cross in New Orleans said it is committed to keeping its students, faculty and staff safe as the campus begins reopening the campus. The university announced the following reopening steps with some aspects dependent on official reopening phases and plans.
Summer 2020
With the City of New Orleans still in Phase 1 of reopening and headed to modified Phase 2, the University of Holy Cross will:
- Continue summer courses online with very few exceptions
- Limit access to the physical campus with certain hours for faculty and staff only
- Agree to health protocols for on campus business including wearing masks, temperature checks, sign in at security gate C and observing physical distancing
(Anyone with a 100-degree temperature will be referred to healthcare experts)
- Keep common spaces such as library, café, break rooms and Academic Skills Center closed
- Clean constantly as part of standard operations
- Encourage staff and faculty who can work from home to continue to do so
Fall 2020
University of Holy Cross will remain flexible beyond Phase 1 as it awaits the official guidelines from the city, but at this time, the university plans to:
- Start the Fall 2020 semester on August 24 with a combination of online and classroom instruction
- Continue observing safety protocols instituted in the summer
- Maintain less density in the four-story Residence Hall and in all common areas than before COVID-19
- Maximize the number of courses taught online or with a hybrid of remote and in-person instruction
- Assign new larger rooms to classes which require necessary face-to-face components to ensure smaller class sizes
- Encourage students with health vulnerabilities to enroll in online classes
- Encourage faculty and staff with health vulnerabilities and those over 65 years to work from home
- Avoid large gatherings
- Move to online classes only after Thanksgiving for the remainder of the semester to avoid risks from holiday travel.
“We will keep you informed as the details continue to change and emerge, but keep in mind that the University of Holy Cross is a resilient community, inspired by our founders the Marianites of Holy Cross,” said University of Holy Cross President Dr. Stanton McNeely III. “We have a long 104-year history and will prevail, united in our mission.”
