Lee moves classes online until March 30, cancels events due to COVID-19 threat
Photo by Sydney Pressley.
Classes to be held online during extended Spring Break
On Thursday, Dr. Paul Conn issued a followup statement to students and faculty with updated protocol, cancelling all on-campus classes and events until March 30. Beginning March 19, Lee will conduct online classes through “Zoom,” an online video communication program.
“We made the decision this morning to ask students to stay away from campus for another two weeks,” Conn said during a Thursday press conference. “They will have an extended Spring Break for two more weeks, and during those two weeks, we plan to deliver instruction to them remotely.”
Conn is working with Dr. Debbie Murray to gather faculty for a training and planning session on Monday, March 16.
“Instruction will continue by this method until we are able to come back together, God willing, on March 30,” Conn said.
The administration will also assess implications for Advanced Class Selection, including the potential for remote advising.
Lee University Health Clinic begins COVID-19 screening
As three Global Perspectives trips return this weekend from Honduras, England and Ireland, the Lee University Health Clinic will screen students when they come back to campus. Because of the cost and nation-wide shortage of COVID-19 tests, this basic screening procedure will only check for symptoms.
“We don’t have the capability to actually do COVID-19 testing — that’s not done in private clinics like ours. So what we have is a screening by the physicians and the nurses at our health clinic to determine whether or not a test is needed,” Conn said. “They’ll take a look at every student and determine if that student has a fever or if that student is showing symptoms. And if so, they will ask the question, ‘should this student be tested for COVID-19.’”
The Health Clinic is coordinating with the local Tennova Hospital, which according to Conn, is prepared to administer full COVID-19 tests. Lee has also arranged an off-campus quarantine area as a contingency for any affected students.
Walker Arena will still host NCAA tournament
As part of thorough cleaning efforts on campus, Conn said the Walker Arena will receive special attention during this week’s NCAA D2 South Region Basketball Tournament. Set to take place March 13-16, the tournament will have limited attendance due to the COVID-19 threat.
“We were expecting a big crowd, but the NCAA made the decision to play all of its post-season basketball with nobody in the stands — no fans,” Conn said. “We’ll be going back in there very frequently during the course of that tournament and doing additional cleaning between games.”
The visiting teams will be staying off-campus in local hotels, and athletic events will operate by NCAA guidelines as they are updated.
As of 4 p.m., Lee is expected to host the Division 2 tournament, though the Division 1 tournament was canceled Thursday afternoon.
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation pulls Great Strides events
Lee’s Great Strides event will not be held March 28, at the request of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFC).
“Sadly, we were just notified this morning by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that they are pulling all the Great Strides events this spring, and they’re asking us not to have our Great Strides event,” Conn said. “Great Strides is a wonderful event on our campus — we’ve been doing it for 20 years.”
According to the CFC website, this nation-wide change affects all in-person Great Strides events scheduled between March 17 and April 12, regardless of location.
Lee Day and spring graduation remain unaffected
As the administration reassesses other upcoming events, no changes are currently expected for Lee Day or spring graduation.
“Lee Day is the first Saturday of April, so we have a few weeks. We hope by that time the most severe threat will have eased,” Conn said. “Obviously like so many other things, that could be a moving target, and we may have to reassess that in March.”
Summer Global Perspectives trips likely to change
According to Conn, around 400 students are signed up to participate in upcoming summer Global Perspectives trips. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, Lee is assessing each trip on a case-by-case basis.
“We’ve been trying to deal with the four groups that are out there now, so we haven’t officially pulled the plug on any [summer trips] yet,” Conn said. “We have two groups planning to go to Italy, and I don’t think any reasonable person would think that we’re going to be able to send students to northern Italy in May. Another area of concern for us is Israel; we have three trips planned for Israel this summer.”
Israel recently issued a 14-day mandatory quarantine for non-Israeli citizens entering the country.
Conn said the Global Perspectives office is working to plan alternative trips to lower-risk regions, including domestic destinations.
“We haven’t officially made the call on these things, but unofficially, when we sit down next week to go over those on a case-by-case basis, my guess is those trips to Israel will not be able to occur. Now what we’re hoping to do before we make that call is to have an alternative trip in place — perhaps a domestic trip or a trip to Latin America or some of the areas where there isn’t such a high increase.”
“These are times to improvise, because the reality shifts on an almost hourly basis,” Conn said. “Yesterday was one of the most extraordinary days I’ve ever experienced as president, because about every couple of hours there was a new important piece of news coming down on this.”
For immediate questions, email pconn@leeuniversity.edu or Dr. Murray at debmurray@leeuniversity.edu. For ongoing updates, follow @LeeClarion on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
News Editor Ashley Smith also contributed to this article.
