NMSU announces fully online classes after Thanksgiving break, no in-person commencement

Las Cruces Sun-News

New Mexico State sophomore Robin Christofani, 19, who is double majoring in history and anthropology with a focus in archaeology works on a paper about Julius Caesar and the fall of the Roman Republic for her class on the history of the Roman World that is online due to COVID-19 at her boyfriend's apartment in Las Cruces on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020.

LAS CRUCES - New Mexico State University President John Floros announced Wednesday morning that the Fall 2020 Commencement will not be held in-person due to COVID-19 restrictions and all classes will be delivered entirely online following the university's Thanksgiving break.

In a letter sent by Floros’ office, the president explained that coronavirus cases have been observed to increase when students return from visiting friends and family. In preparation for the week-long November holiday, the university surveyed students, faculty and staff earlier in September regarding their opinion on returning to campus.

Floros said they received more than 6,600 responses, with more than 70% of faculty and staff and about 60% of students favoring 100% online course delivery beginning Nov. 30. He said many people voiced concerns about the risk of viral transmission with holiday travel.

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To address these concerns, the university decided that all in-person and hybrid classes will convert to fully online delivery following the Thanksgiving break. Classes that are currently online will not change.

While students do not have to return to campus after the Thanksgiving holiday, there will still be two weeks left in the fall semester. The university will remain open during that time to provide housing, dining and other services to the university community.

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Floros said the university still plans to return to in-person classes for the Spring 2021 semester. Branch campuses will announce their individual plans for the final weeks of the current semester, fall commencement and the spring semester soon.

Justin Bannister, associate vice president of Marketing and Communications at NMSU's main campus, said further details about the Fall 2020 commencement and Spring 2021 semester should become available within the coming days.

Read the full memo:

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Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.