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The Vermont State Colleges and Sterling College are switching to a remote instruction model to reduce the risk from the COVID-19 virus, joining almost all other institutions of higher education in Vermont.
Officials at Bennington College, in far southern Vermont, said on the school’s website Wednesday that they are preparing for the possibility of moving to remote teaching and learning.
Jeb Spaulding, chancellor of the four-institution state college system, told board members Wednesday that VSC instruction would move to remote delivery at the end of the day Friday. He said students and faculty should expect to use remote instruction through at least April 3, and that faculty should be prepared to teach remotely through the end of the semester.
In a letter to students and faculty Wednesday, Spaulding told students they were “strongly encouraged” to return to their homes by the end of the day Sunday.
“Those students who are unable to return home will be allowed to remain on campus, as determined appropriate by campus leadership,” he said. “You will hear from your institution’s president with further details.”
The four VSC institutions — Castleton University, Community College of Vermont, Northern Vermont University and Vermont Technical College — will remain open next week, and Spaulding told employees they should plan to report to work.
He also canceled all institutionally sponsored international travel, postponed institutionally sponsored domestic travel, and suspended all public events through April 6.
Sterling College, a tiny liberal arts college in Craftsbury, suspended in-person classes Wednesday.
“Although there are no suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus at Sterling, the College takes these steps to conform with recommendations from local, state and federal officials, and to minimize the impact on the academic experience of Sterling students,” the school said in a press release. Sterling will release students for spring break one week earlier than scheduled, closing dorms on Sunday. It also postponed all on-campus events.
“The faculty will use the extended spring break to transition to teaching distance-based courses,” Sterling officials said.
The University of Vermont, Champlain College, Vermont Law School and St. Michael’s College all switched to online classes to minimize the spread of COVID-19 this week. Norwich University extended this week’s spring break by a week.
“We do live in interesting times,” said J. Churchill “Church” Hindes, chair of the VSC board, as the VSC meeting commenced Wednesday. “What a few weeks ago was just a curiosity in central China is now on our back door.”
There are about 10,000 students in the VSC system, and as many as half of them are already earning their degrees online, Spaulding said.
Spaulding said he had heard people compare the coronavirus pandemic to the 2011 Tropical Storm Irene, which caused devastating flooding in the state when he was secretary of the state Agency of Administration.
“I don’t find that to be an accurate comparison,” said Spaulding. “We knew that was coming, and the zenith lasted 24 to 36 hours, and then it was rescue and recovery. This is an event that is going to continue unfolding in ways nobody can really predict for a long time. It’s really uncharted territory.”
