Virginia Wesleyan announces early start and condensed fall semester

Posted: Jun 18, 2020 / 12:58 PM MDT

Updated: Jun 18, 2020 / 01:06 PM MDT

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Wesleyan University announced plans on Thursday to safely reopen the campus for the fall semester.

The semester will begin Monday, August 24 — two days earlier than the regularly scheduled date — and work on a condensed timeline that includes more remote and virtual instruction.

VWU said in a statement released that the university is still developing and implementing policies and procedures to guarantee campus safety.

The new schedule is as follows:

Classes will be held on Labor Day (September 7).
There is no Fall Break (October 12-13) and classes will meet on those days.
In-person classes will end on Friday, November 20, for Thanksgiving Break. All students will vacate the residence halls and will not return to campus after Thanksgiving Break.
The semester will continue after Thanksgiving Break with remote instruction from November 30 through December 4.
Final exams will take place in a remote format from December 7 through December 11.
The fall semester will end on December 11.

Move-in for first-year and transfer students will be Friday, August 21. Marlin Nation Orientation for new students will happen from August 22 through August 23. Returning students will move in on Sunday, August 23.

The Batten Honors College Fellows/Scholars will receive more information throughout the summer.

Specific information on activities for the Batten Honors College, intercollegiate athletics, and other groups will be released throughout the summer. Information on the spring semester is still under discussion.

“While summer sessions are in full swing via remote and online courses, our campus is still fairly quiet. It is hard to believe that more than three months have passed since COVID-19 spun our spring semester into unprecedented directions and disrupted our everyday lives,” said VWU President Scott D. Miller.

“Looking back, I’m proud of how the entire campus community–students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends–have persevered through the many challenges that emerged. As Booker T. Washington noted, ‘Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome,'” he continued.

For more information visit the Virginia Wesleyan University COVID-19 information page.