MANCHESTER, NH – Southern NH University President Paul Leblanc on Wednesday announced that the university will extend remote learning through the fall 2020 semester.
In a letter sent out June 10 to faculty and staff, Leblanc called the decision “agonizing,” and reflected on the “myriad models for re-opening” being considered by his university peers across the country. His conclusion was that safety has to be first and foremost.
Included in the announcement is the decision to reduce campus tuition to its online rates for all campus students moving to remote learning for the fall. Fall tuition will be reduced to $960 per course, or just under $5,000 for a full-time student carrying a five-course load.
A copy of Leblanc’s letter is below.
Dear Colleagues,
Every university president I know is agonizing over the decision to reopen in the fall, including those who have already announced they will do so. It’s a question I hear from you almost daily and a source of worry for those who are at risk or live with family members at risk. Throughout our deliberations, as we have examined myriad models for re-opening, we come back to one fundamental question: can we keep you safe from COVID-19?
I write today to let you know that, due to the continued public health threat of COVID-19, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to extend remote learning for all campus students through the fall 2020 semester.
This decision was not made lightly. Weeks of hard work, research, conversations with public health officials, task force meetings, and scenario planning all went into this decision for the fall. Over the past few months, the SNHU COVID-19 Task Force has tracked the rapidly changing information from local, state, and federal authorities daily to monitor the situation and adjust our plans for the university community.
We have said from the beginning that we would only bring people back to campus when it was safe to do so, and, unfortunately, the lack of a vaccine and the limited availability of community-wide testing and accurate contact tracing means that we cannot provide the campus-based experiences our students know and expect. Our team explored a number of scenarios to bring students back to campus this fall. However, everything we know today from public health experts suggests that bringing together thousands of people in close proximity is inadvisable and could potentially have negative impacts not only on the SNHU community, but on the communities in which we operate.
In looking at how we would need to operate to adhere to public health guidelines and try to keep people safe – closed dining halls, enforced use of face masks, limited residence hall space, constant health and temperature screenings, no activities with large groups, classrooms with desks at least six feet apart, faculty standing behind plastic partitions, few campus activities, and closed common areas, to name a few – we were left with an experience very different from the SNHU experience our students know and love. Even with those extreme measures, health experts have said to expect infections. Many believe that campuses that do re-open in the fall will see infection rates that force them to subsequently close, creating more chaos.
Next Steps
We know that this spring was challenging for everyone as the SNHU community and indeed our entire country dealt with the impact and ripple effects of this pandemic on so many aspects of our lives. Our goal remains to ensure that SNHU students have the highest quality educational experience, and we are investing significant time and resources throughout the summer to plan for remote instruction, including increased training for faculty to ensure consistency and quality, expanded access to student support services, and reduced tuition to match the cost of SNHU online courses.
The Center for Teaching and Learning is coordinating a robust set of training opportunities throughout the summer to ensure that faculty are well versed in best practices for remote instruction, and equipped with resources to fully support students through remote learning. The ultimate goal of these trainings is to ensure that students receive consistent, high-quality educational experiences for the duration of remote learning. These professional development opportunities include a ten-day symposium exploring innovative educational programs already in testing at SNHU; a four-week bootcamp leveraging the power of SNHU’s Global Campus faculty and staff; bi-weekly faculty check-in sessions to share experiences and learn from each other; and a living library of resources to access at any time. To learn more about training and development resources, visit https://snhu.sharepoint.com/sites/Covid19/SitePages/Faculty-Resources.aspx.
Reduced Tuition Rate
While campus students will continue with remote learning experiences with their campus faculty and curriculum, SNHU will reduce campus tuition to its online rates for all campus students moving to remote learning for the fall. Tuition for the fall term will be reduced to $960 per course. Assuming a regular five-course load per semester, tuition will drop to just under $5,000 for the fall semester.
Final Thoughts
While instruction will remain primarily online for the fall semester, the SNHU task force will continue to monitor public health guidance from local, state, and federal authorities and adjust plans accordingly. If public health guidelines change drastically and it is safe to open facilities, such as the library or campus meeting spaces, SNHU will communicate those updates to the community.
You will likely have questions beyond what I have laid out here. Please visit https://snhu.sharepoint.com/sites/Covid19 for more information, or reach out to covid19@snhu.edu.
While we would all prefer to welcome our students, staff, and faculty members back to campus this fall, we have always prioritized the safety and well-being of the SNHU community and we want students to be able to experience the SNHU they know and love.
I know this news will be met with mixed emotions – disappointment from all of the students who wished to return to campus, relief from the students, staff, and faculty members who may be immunocompromised and worried what a return to campus might mean for their health, and grief or sadness for the thousands of students who call SNHU “home.” Please know that we are feeling all of these emotions alongside you on this journey, and look forward to the day we can all come back together as one community when it is safe to do so.
Paul Leblanc
