After careful and extensive consideration, it has been determined that the university will maintain our current, published Academic Calendar for Fall, 2020.

This decision was made after obtaining input from more than 900 students, faculty, and staff members on a widely-distributed survey.   There were also numerous discussions of scheduling options involving department heads, directors, academic deans, the president’s cabinet and personnel at the UL System office.

This schedule provides us additional time before the beginning of the Academic Year to plan for courses and campus activities.  It also expands opportunities to engage in professional development initiatives related to technological demands of creating courses that are responsive to students, and assist faculty and students in designing courses that are flexible wherever possible.

Observing the current schedule allows more time to expand our technological footprint for students, faculty and staff and develop courses that can be easily shifted to the online environment should the need occur during the semester.

Other factors considered in the calendar decision were efforts to allow families to participate in scheduled vacations and to provide opportunities for students who are working to have an additional week of employment to obtain increased summer income. The loss of work and income due to COVID-19 was a frequent concern on the student survey, and students indicated a strong desire to maximize their opportunity to earn money during the summer.

Our plans are for the campus community to return after the Thanksgiving holiday with increased testing and safety protocols, and for the semester, final exams and other activities to be completed as scheduled with flexibility and contingencies in place should the need to transition to the online environment occur.

Specific information on courses, professional development opportunities and other plans will be forthcoming from the provost, who is working with academic deans, directors, department heads, and the faculty senate to finalize those programs and activities.

Sincerely,

Chris

See the entire calendar at nsu.la/Fall2020Cal.