SCO campus,
Today's update predominately includes important information for our students, but I'm including the entire campus, so everyone hears this at the same time. There are some critical details to share today.
Remainder of this semester
With explicit federal guidance advising complete social distancing through April 30 (with a possibility that this will need to be extended), the campus must remain closed for the rest of this semester.
As far as didactic courses, we will continue with online participation through the end of this semester. All students must continue to participate and complete all online classes and exams in order to get a grade.
Even though SCO has advised you to shelter in place, we ask that you use your own best judgment about your own plans. Please know that if you return home, you should seriously take into account the risks involved with traveling either by plane or by car. You should also factor the COVID-19 infection numbers if you live in one of the most at-risk areas. If you travel to another state, please make sure that you are familiar with the COVID-19 precautions there.
Wherever you decide to finish this semester, you must have high-speed Internet access in order to finish your online academic requirements.
For the Classes of 2020 and in particular the Class of 2021, even if you go home, you are still expected to participate in online instruction as required as we continue to monitor and assess plans for the future administration of your clinical education curriculum.
The Class of 2020 will be involved in the planning of their commencement exercises to be held at the appropriate time, once it is safe to do so.
Return to campus
Based on the available data, our current plan is that the campus will reopen for instruction on June 15. Faculty and staff would need to arrive several days before the students in order to get the campus ready for a regular resumption of our normal schedule. A date will be communicated at the appropriate time for employees. Please understand that factors beyond our control may require us to change this anticipated return date.
Dr. Lindsay Elkins is finalizing a plan on the resumption of labs and didactic instruction. Then, plans for clinical instruction will be put into place. This information will be communicated well in advance, and should allow for completion of instruction missed by our forced closure concurrent with the summer term,
We anticipate registration will happen as normal this fall for our incoming first-year students and our rising second- and third-year classes. Depending on the resumption of our normal schedule, we will look at the appropriate timeline for our fourth-year class. Should we have a delayed registration for our rising fourth year students, we are reviewing options to help ensure that you can receive the loans for which you applied to cover living expenses.
Tuition
The administration is pleased to announce that there will be no tuition increase for the 2020-21 academic year. Though our anticipated reopening plans support all current class years completing the program in four years, should the Class of 2021 have to complete a portion of the program in the summer of 2021, there will be no additional tuition cost beyond what is currently committed for a four-year program completion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this update involves a lot of information. This crisis continues to unfold. If you've seen today's reports, our country's infection rate curve is sharply higher than that of China or Italy, the two countries previously most affected.
It is anticipated that April will be a critical time for our country. Social distancing is scientifically cited as the most critical tool in the public health arsenal for minimizing exposure and infection risk. I ask that each of you continue to take this seriously in order for us to contribute to our nation's recovery as soon as possible.
In the interim, online Q&A sessions are being planned for faculty, staff, and students to answer more questions in-depth. Some of the answers may involve follow-up given that these plans are being formulated remotely by the administration.
Thanks to each of you for taking the time to read this critical update,
Lewis Reich
President