Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 17, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 9 Mondays during the semester everyone would normally have off. Anna Maria and Clark plan to begin fall semes- ter classes on Aug. 24, and Clark for students to move out by Nov. 22. Clark's spring semester wouldn't begin until Feb. 22. e later start date will push graduation in the spring roughly a month later than normal: June 20. e few weeks on campus aer a anksgiving break normally devoted to wrapping up the semester and taking finals won't take place at all on campus at MCPHS University, Clark and Nichols. Testing & contingency planning College students are used to taking tests, but not this kind. Most Central Massachusetts colleges will require coronavirus testing for the start of the semester. Nichols expects to conduct about 350 tests per day and will pick up the cost of $25 to $30 per test. Fitchburg State is committing to testing all students and employees at the start of the semester, as well as randomized samples each week. Assumption is having employees and students report their temperatures daily through a mobile app. Students have been instructed to pack a thermometer to bring with them to campus. Anna Maria and Clark are among those who've made contingency plans for isolating and delivering food to students who've tested positive. Anna Maria gave students the ability to take classes online only instead of in the hybrid online and in-person format if they filled out an application for approval first. e area's community colleges, which don't have dorms, have varied slightly in their approach to courses this fall. Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester will hold all classes online M E M B E R F D I C | M E M B E R D I F countrybank.com W O R C E S T E R P U B L I C M A R K E T A T K E L L E Y S Q U A R E 2 7 8 P A R K A V E | 3 1 5 M A I N S T R E E T WHAT'S NEXT. IS YOU? W H A T I F T H E A N S W E R E V E R Y O N E I S W O N D E R I N G to between 900 and 1,000. WPI will house about 185 first-year students at the Hampton Inn & Suites just off campus. Little normalcy Most Central Massachusetts col- leges will have at least some courses on campus, which may be the most normal thing about the semester, even if fewer students are in class, or the class is some- times actually online, not in person. Assumption is breaking the fall se- mester into two terms aer hearing from students that taking five classes online at once in the spring was too much, said Greg Weiner, the school's provost and academic vice president. Instead, stu- dents will take two classes one semester and three the other. "It's more intense, but stu- dents can focus more closely on fewer subjects at one time," Weiner said. Some colleges are adjusting their tuition and fees for the semester in recognition the education may not be quite the same. at list includes Holy Cross, Becker and Clark. Holy Cross said it will eliminate a planned tuition hike for the upcoming year and waive an expected $2,400 student contribution to its finan- cial aid funds. "We typically plan for this amount to come from student summer earnings, and we recognize that many students are unable to secure summer employment this year," Holy Cross said in an online guide for the semester. Others are keeping prices the same. Nichols, for example, said it would maintain prices because of the costs associated with preparing the campus for a safe reopening, including testing and classroom technology. But the college is waiving the comprehensive fee for the fall for all students, and every student who completes eight full-time semesters at Nichols is being offered a ninth semes- ter tuition-free, which can be used for undergraduate or graduate courses. Fitchburg State, which isn't adjusting costs, has said it anticipates at least $2 million in costs related to health and safety measures, in addition to $3.5 million it refunded in the spring when residents halls were forced to close and classes moved online. Colleges are making adjustments to schedules not just in how classes will be held, but when. Nichols, for example, will hold classes on Labor Day and Columbus Day, two Continued on Page 10 James Vander Hooven, Mount Wachusett Community College Luis Pedraja, Quinsigamond Community College PHOTO/FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY

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