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COVID-19 test could be required to return to USF
Aaron Mesmer reports
TAMPA, Fla. - USF students could be back on campus for the fall semester, but with some major adjustments approved unanimously Tuesday by the university's board of trustees.
USF President Steven Currall met with the board to discuss the plan to reopen campus.
The proposal is a four-phase plan that would first allow an increasing number of staff to return beginning this summer. Seventy-five percent of faculty must be back by the beginning of the fall semester.
All staff and students would have to complete a "baseline symptom survey" before returning and a random 10 percent of the on-campus population would also be required to take a COVID-19 test. Students living outside the state or country, or in a Florida county with a greater-than seven-percent coronavirus test rate, would also have to be tested.
Classes, which were entirely virtual to end the previous school year, are expected to be in-person, virtual, or a combination of both.
"We are committed to the excitement, the chemistry, the intellectual stimulation that our students get from being on campus, having access to our faculty," Currall said during a virtual interview session with reporters following the board meeting. "We're trying to create a campus climate that promotes health and safety. In these extreme circumstances we believe that we can insist on compliance with a certain broad set of behavioral elements of our strategy."
Students will be required to follow strict health and safety guidelines including wearing masks during class.
The plan will now be submitted to the Florida Board of Governors for final approval.
USF Adjusted Fall Calendar:
First day of fall semester: Aug. 24
Last day of classes on campus: Nov. 25
Thanksgiving break: Nov. 26-27
Classes only online: Nov. 30-Dec.
Final exams: Dec. 5-10 (online only)
Last day of fall semester: Dec. 10