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Marietta College preparing to conduct in-person classes for fall semester

President Ruud announces task force will monitor COVID-19 trends throughout summer

by Tom Perry

Marietta, Ohio (05/07/2020) — Marietta College announced today (May 7, 2020) that it plans to reopen campus and have in-person classes for Fall 2020, which includes opening the residence halls and dining services for all 1,200 students.

President Bill Ruud said the College's COVID-19 Recovery Task Force will monitor local and national health trends and make adjustments as warranted.

"We are cautiously optimistic that we will welcome all of our students to campus this fall, and we will continue to follow the guidelines of the CDC and State of Ohio," Ruud said. "Right now, we are in a position to focus on the fall and the best and safest way to resume our residential community and learning. We are also fortunate to be located in Washington County, where we have not been hit nearly as hard as larger communities around the U.S.

"Ultimately, the safety of our students, faculty, and staff is and always will be our top priority."

Marietta College's campus switched to remote virtual learning on March 16 in response to COVID-19 and following a stay-at-home order by Gov. Mike DeWine. At that time, the majority of students moved out of their residence halls and returned to their homes for the remainder of the semester.

President Ruud said the task force will work through the summer evaluating what precautions and benchmarks must be met to successfully open campus on time.

"To achieve our goals and make sure we can safely reopen campus in the fall, our recovery plan must be a comprehensive organizational approach," Ruud said. "We will look to Academic Affairs to quickly develop recommendations for conducting in-person classes, but we also expect they will look to others on campus for help executing those recommendations."

Dr. Janet Bland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty, said this approach will allow the College to accelerate decision-making and allow the College to put a sound and thoughtful plan for the fall in place fairly quickly.

"By initiating this effort now, the College can be ready for the best-case scenario, meaning we are able to come back to in-person classes and activities in the fall," she said. "At the same time, we will also determine alternative plans in case starting in-person learning is not feasible in August."

While all undergraduate summer courses are being conducted online, the College will learn what it looks like to have in-person classes in June when 36 graduate students arrive for the Physician Assistant Studies Program.

"First, this provides us with an opportunity to practice physical distancing and develop the necessary procedures for having in-person classes, and we will be able to use the lessons we learn when the campus population grows to 1,200 students," President Ruud said.

New PA classes begin every June for a 26-month master's degree program. The COVID-19 pandemic did impact the PA Program's Class of 2020 as most of the students had their clinical experiences canceled, but officials remain hopeful that the students will still be able to graduate in July.

Dr. Richard Danford, Vice President for Student Life, said the Community Living staff learned some valuable lessons in the spring when 65 students remained on campus following the shift to online instruction.

"It was a much smaller sample size, but it was a positive experience and we're confident there are some protocols that we implemented - including social distancing and wearing of masks - during the final six weeks of the spring semester that will be helpful to use in the fall," he said.

President Ruud said students and families should keep an eye out for email communication, as well as the College's website (www.marietta.edu). Students and families can also find resources and other updates at www.marietta.edu/coronavirus-update.

For more information about summer courses, please visit www.marietta.edu/summer-sesson. To register for the fall semester or to ask general admission questions, please contact the Office of Admission at (740) 376-4600 or apply online at www.marietta.edu/apply.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value-added, regardless of major. Marietta College has also been named a Great College to Work For two consecutive years (2018 and 2019).

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