EWU to stay online

CHENEY – Eastern Washington University officials announced that they will continue with the current online instruction format created about seven weeks ago in response to measures imposed to slow the spread of the acute respiratory disease COVID-19.

“Eastern is moving forward with an online first approach to the fall terms,” EWU Provost Dr. David May said during a Tuesday, May 5, morning telebriefing. “We want to keep our students, faculty and community safe.”

May outlined four operating principals for fall instruction, which he said provide “maximum flexibility for students and for faculty in the event the pandemic worsens and importantly gives students and families choices.” May added the principals provide for changes should the situation improve.

May said all courses currently online will continue as such this fall. Those that cannot be offered fully online, and have been identified by college deans as “needing to be in a face-to-face format” will use health criteria to protect students and staff.

“We will be offering a very limited number of those courses in a face-to-face mode,” May added.

All courses offered in the fall will have an established meeting pattern to facility students’ abilities to plan their lives. Finally, if restrictions are eased enough where health experts agree moving some classes back to a face-to-face format is possible, the university will do so, but will require all classes have the capability to return to online should conditions change.

In announcing its “online first, maximum flexibility” plan, Eastern is bucking a trend among local four-year institutions. Washington State University, along with Gonzaga and Whitworth universities have all announced plans to resume on-campus instruction this fall.

Eastern will also continue with limiting its on-campus living and dining options. As with spring, only a couple residence halls will be open this fall, with students limited to one per room, with social distancing practices in place and frequent cleaning and sanitizing of facilities.

“Same as dining, staffing will be adjusted accordingly,” university director of communications/media relations Dave Meany said.

The news of Eastern’s decision had a mixed reaction with local officials, who are concerned about the impacts having fewer students on campus might have on businesses already stressed by the coronavirus closure measures. Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller said by the time students return in September the state should be well into phase four of Inslee’s “Safe Start Washington” plan, which carries fewer restrictions on gatherings and business operations.

“Our hope is that EWU is able to host events attracting students and their families, alumni, donors, fans and others to the Cheney campus,” Schuller said. “I worry about the viability of our local businesses and restaurants should we not see a majority of the EWU community return to campus in the fall. This being said, we want them to be safe and have all the proper precautions and alternative operational plans should the virus re-emerge late in the year or early next year.”

Schuller added that fewer options for on-campus living, including the waiver of the university’s one-year on-campus living requirement, could mean more students electing to return to Cheney searching the off-campus housing market for accommodations.

Dr. Katie Taylor, assistant professor of exercise science, said the university got to this position through implementation of measures in late March to close the campus and move all classes online, using a program of thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing all facilities to maintain health and safety. But she also noted in staying with fall online instruction the university was “going the other way” from businesses.

Many civic and business officials have been lobbying Gov. Jay Inslee to relax stay-at-home orders and restrictions on “non-essential businesses” enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Recent protests around the state have also called on the removal of these orders to enable the economy to begin its recovery.

Taylor noted that universities are different than business.

“Imagine a lecture hall full of 100 students,” Taylor said. “All it takes is one asymptomatic student, a student with the virus who is not showing any symptoms who could spread that virus to students, who would then go on to their next classes and potentially pass it to those students.”

Those students would then go back to residence halls, apartment complexes and other locations throughout their community and spread the virus, Taylor added.

It was a point Dr. Krisztian Magori, assistant professor of biostatistics, made as well.

“This coronavirus, it’s more transmissible,” Magori said. “It kills 20 times as many people in proportion as influenza.”

Magori pointed out that a vaccine is available for influenza, but not as yet for COVID-19, and the flu does not infect people before people become “infectious.” He added the virus can’t do many of the things it has done by itself.

“It needs us,” he said.

EWU President Dr. Mary Cullinan acknowledged there are still many questions students and others have about fall – ranging from tuition and fees to athletics and campus events. She said officials are working on those, and in the case of athletics the NCAA and Big Sky Conference, and will have more answers soon.

“But again, the health and safety of faculty, staff, students and our community, that health and safety have to be our top priority,” Cullinan added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].