News

Students uncertain about selecting on-campus option in Spring due to Covid spikes

Covid has increasingly been spreading throughout the state and nation many to believe recovery by the spring semester is not feasible.

Grambling State University announced on Oct. 11 registration would open for students to register for the spring 2021 semester some students were hesitant about doing their spring 2021 schedule because they were not sure how they wanted to orchestrate their living arrangement for that semester.

Some students are wondering what options they will have to choose from, such as in person or online or hybrid.

Others who chose to stay home this semester and do 100 percent online classes have said they do want to come back to campus and into the college environment but they are still worried about coronavirus. 

“I prefer to have in person class for things such as lectures and labs,” Sierra Matthews, a mass communication major from California, said.

A timetable for returning back to some semblance of normality cannot be defined until a vaccine for Covid is widely available. 

Until then students have questions. 

Will the administration and faculty like to go back to normal? Do they already have a plan for the spring semester transition? Will students still get the option of online or hybrid? 

Grambling State University Director of Communications Tisha Arnold said that answers to those questions depend on many factors outside of the university’s control.  

“I believe the faculty and staff would love to go back to normal, but it is not our sole decision to make,” Arnold said.

The pandemic has resulted in monumental changes not only to how classes are taught, but also to the social fiber of the GSU community. 

The Southwestern Athletic Conference decided to cancel all college sports for the fall semester including football which is a fan favorite at Grambling. Instead of canceling the football season altogether the SWAC in an unprecedented move shifted the season to the spring. 

When football returns in the spring, students are well aware that there will be more people returning to campus.