On Aug. 20, NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson met with the press in person in front of Holladay Hall shortly after a letter was emailed to students, faculty and staff announcing NC State’s move to all-online classes for undergraduate students. The decision comes after NC State reported 83 new COVID-19 cases in the past two days.
“It provides those students who feel unsafe… an opportunity to continue their education without being on campus.” Woodson said. “I mean, right now — today — we have over 500 students in quarantine for up to two weeks. For those students to continue to receive the education that they deserve, what this university wants for them, online is a great option.”
Woodson said he was disappointed with the students who didn’t follow safety guidelines. He said that while around 50 students have tested positive in residence halls, a majority of cases are either in Greek Village or in off-campus housing. All three COVID-19 clusters affecting NC State are off campus, with two in Greek Village, which has six houses quarantined. In on-campus residence halls, there are around 50 cases.
“I’m very disappointed. When you look at our students, if you walk across our campus and you interact with our students in dining halls, in residence halls, in classrooms, you’ll see that the vast majority—the overwhelming majority—are taking this seriously,” Woodson said. “What I’ll say is the behavior of the few has jeopardized the ability for us to go forward for all of our students.”
While students who wish to move home will receive prorated housing and dining refunds, the same will not be true for tuition for students who withdraw from the University. Those who withdraw on or before Aug. 21 will receive 90% refunds, while after Aug. 22, it drops to 50%.
“Our policy is pretty clear on the timelines,” Woodson said. “I think census day is at the end of this week or early next week… We’re before that date, so they will have some time to [withdraw].”
Woodson said NC State followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines when planning a safe return in the summer, and mentioned having conversations with Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
“Remember, when we started thinking about this, we had a very different model about where this virus would be,” Woodson said. “It was predicted to peak in early summer, and to be dramatically lower, and that didn’t happen in North Carolina. So, before the semester began, we went out to all the students, particularly those on campus, and gave them the option to withdraw from housing. Frankly, very few did. So, they voted with their feet.”
