On an online orientation held on May 28, Dr. Rodney Carr, vice president of Student Success and Dr. Vince Miller, vice president of Student Affairs, announced that VSU will be returning to face-to-face instruction in the fall semester.

According to Dr. Carr, The University System of Georgia informed him on May 27 that VSU will be going back to face-to-face interactions in the fall semester but with strict Centers for Disease Control guidelines that will be put in place.

Along with wearing face masks, students can expect to follow the same guidelines that they’ve been seeing in their hometowns thus far such as staying six feet apart from others and washing their hands periodically.

“We’re following similar to probably what you’re seeing in your local communities with how communities are approaching social distancing right now,” Dr. Miller said. “We’re expecting some of the same practices to take place on campus in fall when we return.”

Robert Freidhoff, Interim Associate Vice President for Student Success, also said that the fall semester will not be shortened and is expected to be a regular 15 credit hour semester for the students who are returning in the fall.

“We’re planning on doing a traditional fall schedule and 15 credits is the typical low that we would have students taking in the fall semester,” Freidhoff said. “So at this point, I don’t believe we’re doing anything with abbreviated schedules. We would do our regular traditional 15 credits in the semester.”

As the summer online semester begins, Dr.Miller hopes that VSU will gain a little bit of normalcy as they plan and prepare for face-to-face interactions in the fall.

“We’re excited to have students return to campus and we’re excited for class instruction to be face to face and our resident halls to be full. It will definitely come with some added social distancing and some expectations and what it will look like for fall but yes, we are planning for a fall reopen in August,” Dr.Miller said.

Written by Lenah Allen,Campus Life Editor. Photo courtesy of Bethany Davis, Graphics Designer.