Class registration opens April 5 for the Fall 2021 semester at Southeast Missouri State University and university administration officials said "classroom capacities" will be set at pre-pandemic levels.

Southeast provost Mike Godard, the university's chief academic officer, asked faculty this week to remind their student advisees course options will revert to what they were before March 2020 -- when Southeast's class schedule was disrupted by the spread of the coronavirus.

Southeast Missouri State University provost Mike Godard announced in an email this week the university will revert to pre-pandemic course schedules for fall 2021.Submitted

"Course delivery options offered (will be) the same as before the pandemic -- face-to-face, online, webinar, HyFlex and blended," Godard stated in an email.

Faculty who have face-to-face classes will not be expected to provide remote delivery options (e.g., Zoom) for students who cannot attend in-person, Godard said, noting if individual faculty members wish to accommodate such students, they are free to do so.

Monitoring

Godard told Southeast faculty the decision to revert to normal classroom operations is "contingent upon Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center and state of Missouri guidelines," adding the university is prepared, if necessary, to go back to the plans in place now for the current spring semester.

On March 8, the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center rescinded the mask mandate in place since July and is currently "strongly recommending" face coverings.

Southeast president Carlos Vargas indicated three days later the university will continue, for now, to follow the guidelines of the "Protect the Nest" plan.

• Face covering and social distancing guidelines are still in place, with some exceptions.
• Exceptions: Face coverings are not required when outside alone or when able to maintain social distance from others.

As of Thursday, the county health center reported 10 active cases while Southeast listed two on its daily COVID dashboard -- one employee and one student.

Southeast has no one currently in isolation or quarantined because of COVID.

Cape Girardeau County's Thursday dashboard reported a total of 33,367 vaccine doses have been administered.

Jeff Long is a part-time Southeast Missouri State University instructor.