Released by Converse College.
Converse College administrators and Board of Trustees have announced the following changes to operating status to minimize the health and safety risks to students, faculty, staff and the wider community in response to COVID-19: Classes, Campus Services and Remote Work• Converse will continue operations as planned for next week (March 16), with one exception: classes with more than 30 students will be moved into larger classrooms to allow greater distance between students.• Spring Break will begin one week early (the week of March 23) for students. Converse will continue to operate as normal for faculty and staff who will focus their work on completing and testing continuity plans, including testing teleworking operations and the delivery of online courses.• Residence halls and dining services will remain open the week of March 23. Students may stay on campus during this time if they choose. • Dining services will operate under normal hours through March 20. Modified dining operations and operating hours will be in effect March 21 through April 5.• When classes resume on Monday, April 6, Converse will provide courses through instruction online, hybrid, and other instructional options where feasible during this week. The modality of courses will be determined by faculty and they provide guidance on how each class will continue operating no later than March 20. The expectation is that the majority of classes will be held online.• Converse administrators will continue monitoring the situation with COVID-19 community spread and will determine if online course delivery will be extended past the week of April 6.• With the safety of our community in mind, Converse reserves the right to require a faculty member, employee, or student to wait 14-days before returning to school and/or pending a physician's release if they have traveled to a location deemed a Level 2 or 3 by the CDC or a virus hotspot due to COVID-19 contagion or have had interaction with a Patient Under Investigation. Events• Converse-led events of 50 or more individuals scheduled for March 13 - April 10 will be suspended effective immediately. This includes Converse Activities Board (CAB) events and formal or informal meetings of 50 or more people. This also includes recruiting events on campus. Smaller campus-sponsored events and meetings will continue as normal.• All overnight campus recruiting visits will be suspended until April 10.• Junior or Senior Recitals will be suspended through April 10 and at that point further guidance will be given by the Dean of the School of the Arts.• College-sponsored travel to events with 50 or more people are currently discontinued.• Event rentals of Twichell Auditorium in the Zimmerli Performance Center or other spaces on campus by outside groups for cultural events will continue, with the continued implementation of special cleaning. • Effective March 12, 2020, Conference Carolinas has suspended all athletic competition until further notice. As the situation around COVID-19 is fluid, Converse administrators will continue to reassess the institution’s operating status and provide updates as new information becomes available. “This is an unprecedented time for the Converse community,” says Converse President Krista L. Newkirk. “We are conscious of the disruption this will create; however, our priority is to maintain a safe learning environment for our students, faculty, and staff – and also support the health of their families, and the wider Spartanburg community.” The College has convened a task force that meets regularly about COVID-19 and has been providing updates to the campus community. President Newkirk continues, “As always the health of our students and employees remains our first priority. We have been proactively addressing and monitoring the situation as it relates to the Converse community, updated guidance from federal and state agencies, and recent decisions made by other higher education institutions in the Upstate and across the country.” Additional information can be found at https://www.converse.edu/coronavirus-updates/
