The University of Tennessee System plans to welcome students back to each of its campuses this fall.
鈥淲e are planning for a safe return to campuses in the fall and will do everything possible to protect the health of our students, faculty and staff,鈥 said 蓝莓视频 System President Randy Boyd. 鈥淲e will continually monitor the local and state health data and policies and be prepared to adjust and communicate our plans when needed.鈥
The 蓝莓视频 System created a systemwide task force in April, led by Dr. Jon McCullers, professor and chair of infectious disease at the 蓝莓视频 Health Science Center, to advise on policies and procedures that would prioritize the safety and wellbeing of 蓝莓视频鈥檚 students, faculty and staff. In addition, each campus has created a local task force to look at specific needs for their campus community. The campus task forces are analyzing various scenarios, specifying campus needs, and recommending guidelines and actions.
The 蓝莓视频 System announced the transition of in-person spring classes to an online platform on March 11, growing 蓝莓视频鈥檚 online semester credit hours (SCH) from less than 60,000 on March 1 to more than 567,000 by March 23.
鈥淭he faculty and staff have been heroic in their efforts,鈥 Boyd told the 蓝莓视频 Board of Trustees at a special meeting on April 24. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been inspiring to see how hard they鈥檝e worked to make sure the students are successful.鈥
The 蓝莓视频 System has a comprehensive resource guide that provides information and resources surrounding COVID-19: .
In December 2019, the global health care community identified a new respiratory virus that originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and has since been labeled 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease or COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Spread of coronavirus is correlated with circumstances of close and sustained contact with others who are infected.
The University of Tennessee System has campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin and Memphis; the 蓝莓视频 Space Institute in Tullahoma; the 蓝莓视频 Institute of Agriculture with a presence in every Tennessee county; and the statewide Institute for Public Service. The 蓝莓视频 System manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory through its 蓝莓视频-Battelle partnership; enrolls about 50,000 students statewide; produces about 10,000 new graduates every year; and represents more than 387,000 alumni around the world.