Brigid Cooley
Editor-in-Chief
Students, faculty and staff at Texas A&M University-San Antonio will finish the spring semester online due to COVID-19 health precautions.
University President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said the decision to go online was made after local and national officials declared social distancing practices should continue for the next eight weeks.
“Our focus, my focus, has been on the health and safety of Texas A&M-San Antonio and our students,” Matson said in an interview March 18 in her office.
The announcement was made March 17 in an email from Mari Fuentes-Martin, vice president of Student Success and Engagement.
“First, a decision was made yesterday to deliver ALL courses online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester,” Fuentes-Martin said. “This decision was not made lightly, and reflects the abundance of caution that we are taking to protect your health and safety.”
The email outlined the following university updates:
- The campus will remain open so students will have access to resources.
- Excluding the Recreational Sports department, all university offices will continue to serve students.
- The April 4 Ring Ceremony is canceled, but “may be rescheduled for a later date.”
- The university is considering postponing spring commencement and will update the campus on a final decision this week.
Matson said the university received guidance from the A&M System, though the decision was left ultimately to individual campuses.
“It is completely a campus decision, but we want to make sure we’re leading and guiding in a way that is safe and healthy and consistent with what everyone else is doing in the community,” Matson said.
Online classes begin Monday, March 23.
