South Carolina State University officials are preparing for the shift to online learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this week, the university announced that it will be extending spring break for students to March 23. It's also eliminating face-to-face classroom instruction, with all students shifting to "remote learning and alternative instruction methods, including online classes."

"The extension of the spring break allows us to do better planning because this has all developed rather quickly, allows us to get better things in order for our students and allows the students to be home that second week so when they come back on the 23rd, they will have their classes online," S.C. State University President James Clark said.

Clark addressed the issue Friday during a special emergency teleconference meeting of the board of trustees.

Although students may return to campus on Mar. 23, they are not required to do so.

"They can meet at the campus, but they're online. And what we afford the student is we're not causing these students to be in a room of 200 people in a lecture hall," Clark said.

Clark said the university has been working to develop its online capabilities over the past few years.

"We have in place the ability to do most things online," Clark said.

"Not all courses have been brought online by their respective professors, so what is happening now is that the professors are working as a team to help each other get up and running," Clark said.

He said the university will have multiple levels of online services.

Students are completing surveys to better inform university officials of their internet capabilities, according to Clark.

"We will also be adjusting mechanisms for delivering classes based on accommodating the various technology levels the professors and the students might have," Clark said.

The university will begin testing its online class capabilities on Thursday and make any necessary adjustments the following day.

University officials also addressed concerns about student disengagement and the possibility of students not having internet access during the online period.

Officials said they will continue to follow the university protocol that addresses student engagement, and they will work to ensure that all student location and cellphone information is up to date.

Students who don't have internet access will be asked to go to a hotspot to gain internet access.

Clark also noted that the university will remain open, and that food and other services will be available on campus.

The pandemic has also caused the cancellation or rescheduling of university events.

Clark noted that Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges officials are looking to reschedule the university's March 24 site visit.

Athletics
Due to the pandemic, several NCAA events were canceled, including all spring sports/activities in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. S.C. State is a member of MEAC.

S.C. State Athletic Director Stacy Danley said NCAA officials are working to address the impact of the cancellations.

"I know the NCAA is having conversations about extending the season of competition for those seniors, giving them another year back, another year of competition," he said.

"We're evaluating our student-athletes who fall in that category to determine if they have a redshirt year. If they do, then that's a clean process. If they have exhausted their eligibility, then we would go through the NCAA waiver process to see if we can get a year back for those students who want to come back to play one additional season," Danley said.

Danley said those particular student-athletes will have to decide if they want to graduate, or if they want to postpone graduation until next year.


"If they graduate, then they have to be accepted into a graduate degree program here on campus to participate for another season. We're evaluating all of those things, and also looking at how that's going to impact our scholarship numbers if we have some seniors who we're kind of expecting to roll off the books, and they come back and play another season and therefore remain on the books from a scholarship financial aid standpoint," he said.

Danley also addressed the potential financial impact of the NCAA decision to cancel spring sports.

"Let's say softball has five seniors that are leaving, and we sign five incoming freshmen already to a national letter of intent, then we have to honor those national letters of intent. At the same time, if those seniors decide to stay another year, then we would have to find financial aid," Danley said.

"If they were on scholarship, then we would have to provide that scholarship for them, so that would be a budget increase and that's something we're going to talk about as an institution is how we are going to fund those situations," Danley said.

Travel

S.C. State has implemented several procedures related to university-sponsored travel, and possible cases of the coronavirus on or near the campus.

"One of our processes as people come back from either an international trip or high-risk areas, we're asking them to self-quarantine," Clark said.

Clark noted that Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Learie B. Luke has agreed to self-quarantine under the travel protocol.

Clark also detailed the university's plan to address confirmed coronavirus cases on or near the campus.

"Different levels of activity would cause us to respond a certain way," Clark said.

"We are currently to Level 4, which means that there is at least on instance certified by CDC within 75 miles of the campus. That includes Columbia and Charleston," Clark said.

Level 5 indicates that there has been a confirmed case in Orangeburg, and Level 6 indicates a confirmed case on the university's campus, according to Clark. Each level is accompanied by specific procedures that the university will follow.

If an occupant of the campus shows symptoms of the coronavirus, Clark said that individual will be taken to a health facility.

Contact the writer: bharris@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-596-6530