U. of Washington Cancels In-Person Classes, Becoming First Major U.S. Institution to Do So Amid Coronavirus Fears

The University of Washington announced on Friday that it would cancel all in-person classes and move them online for at least the next few weeks. In doing so, Washington became the first major American university to take such drastic action amid rapidly growing fears of the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, Covid-19.

The university, with an enrollment of nearly 50,000 on its Seattle campus, said in a message Friday morning that the campus would remain open in other capacities, and that it planned to resume normal operations on March 30, when the institution’s next quarter begins. A university staff member has tested positive for Covid-19, and the Seattle area has been the site of the most intense outbreak of the virus in the United States so far, with at least 51 cases reported in King County, Wash., as of Friday.

Other campuses across the country have shuttered study-abroad programs in nations affected by the virus, canceled university-sponsored travel, and imposed 14-day self-quarantines on students returning from affected countries.

Coronavirus Hits Campus

As colleges and universities have struggled to devise policies to respond to the quickly evolving situation, here are links to The Chronicle’s key coverage of how this worldwide health crisis is affecting campuses.

• Here’s Our List of Colleges’ Reopening Models
• Students’ Trust in Their Colleges Held Steady During Covid’s Early Days, Study Finds
• As More Stressed-Out Students Consider Dropping Out, Surgeon General Pushes College Leaders to Ramp Up Support

Several colleges, including the University of Iowa and Washington State and Syracuse Universities, had already alluded to the possibility that classroom instruction might have to be conducted online. But the University of Washington is the first major campus to go ahead with such plans. (Brandman University, a private college headquartered in California that teaches most of its students online, also announced it would move all classes at all its campuses entirely online, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. And Northeastern University announced on Thursday that classes at its Seattle campus would be moved online.)

While campuses have so far focused containment efforts on international travel, they could soon move to curb domestic movement. On Friday the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that it was “restricting students, faculty, and staff from university-affiliated travel” to locations in the United States “where a state of emergency has been declared” because of Covid-19. The governors of Washington and California, among other states, have declared states of emergency.