THATCHER — The spring semester at Eastern Arizona College will look a great deal like the fall.
That was the message from school officials during a video update on social media Thursday.
“Because of your commitment to keeping our campus safe, we are able to meet, again, in person this spring,” said Dr. Susan Wood, vice president of academic and student affairs.
“We’ve been able to do it in this semester, in fall semester, and that is largely to your credit. Because you were willing to come to campus, you were willing to face masks, to social distance, to use the hand sanitizer and wash your hands often. And all of those safety measures made it so that we were able to stay open in the fall and we’re able to come back in the spring.”
Classrooms will be at 50 percent capacity, requiring blended instruction — half the class attending one day via Zoom and the other day in person — and there will be some live remote and online-only instruction situations. Dual-enrollment students will follow guideline set by their respective high schools.
Sports and intramural activities will return in the spring; however, there will no live fan attendance at the competitions.
The biggest change involves the school’s annual spring break. Rather than send students off campus for a week, five individual days off will be sprinkled throughout the semester, giving the students a series of three-day weekends.
EAC President Todd Haynie said the college will continue to require that all students, faculty, staff and visitors wear a face covering while on campus, as well practice social distancing of at least 6 feet apart and wash hands regularly. There will also be daily health checks for those entering classrooms.
Eastern opted to not have students return to campus following the Thanksgiving break, finishing the fall semester remotely.
The spring semester classes will begin Jan. 19, 2021.
