Some colleges plan to start spring term online; covid cited

UALR law school, Philander Smith, UCA take precautions as cases jump

Law students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will start the spring semester with remote instruction after an announcement Wednesday from Chancellor Christina Drale citing a community surge in covid-19 cases.

No decision has yet been announced for other classes at UALR, with law school courses starting Monday but other spring courses not set to begin until Jan. 18. There are 479 students enrolled in the William H. Bowen School of Law, a UALR spokeswoman said.

“A decision for main campus classes will be made no later than Jan. 12, but all faculty should be prepared to pivot to online instruction for the first one to two weeks of the semester as we continue to monitor community spread,” Drale said in the message to the campus.

Also in Little Rock, Philander Smith College announced Wednesday that its spring semester will begin with three days of online instruction.

The private historically Black college will hold classes online from next Wednesday through Jan. 14, with in-person classes planned to start on Jan. 18 after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, according to a post on social media.

“This is a part of our updated COVID-19 protocols as we continue to navigate the pandemic and the most recent increase in positive cases,” the college stated in its announcement.

UALR’s law school announced on social media Wednesday that “all classes will be online” from Monday through Jan. 14.

Drale’s note to the entire campus stated that “law school faculty have been authorized to move to virtual learning for the first week of the semester.”

UALR on its website Wednesday reported 12 active cases of covid-19, significantly fewer than some other colleges in the state.

Drale, however, referred to “the rising number of COVID-19 cases in our community” in the email announcement.

Pulaski County in recent days has led all counties in the number of covid-19 cases and seen a strong surge of new infections, according to state data.

In the first five days of the new year, Pulaski County has added an average of 994 new covid-19 cases daily, an increase of about 43% compared with new cases added in the final five days of 2021, when the county averaged 697 new cases daily.

Pulaski County’s population of 399,125 is the largest in the state and 40% greater than the second-most populous county, Benton County. On Wednesday, however, Pulaski County saw 1,658 new cases of covid-19, according to state data, about 230% more than the 503 new cases reported by the state for Benton County in Northwest Arkansas.

Elsewhere in Pulaski County, the Little Rock School District announced on Wednesday that schools would shift to virtual instruction today and Friday. An update will be given Sunday by the district about classes for the week ahead.

The UALR campus also will have employees shift their schedules to reduce the number of workers on campus at any one time, spokeswoman Angie Faller said. Drale announced the changes for workers as beginning Thursday and lasting through Jan. 14.

Elsewhere in the state, the University of Central Arkansas on Wednesday announced that spring semester classes on the Conway campus will start with remote instruction next week from Jan. 13-14.

“This shift will allow members of our campus community to finish current quarantine and isolation periods, to get tested for COVID-19 if needed, and to ensure that they are healthy before they reenter the classroom space,” UCA President Houston Davis stated in a message to campus.

Davis stated that the Conway campus will resume in-person instruction on Jan. 18.

The campus will start the spring semester with face covering requirements that were in place during the fall 2021 semester, Davis said.

The shift to remote instruction will not change move-in dates for UCA residence halls, Davis said. Housing will be open for move-in starting Sunday for returning students.

No changes to the spring semester have been announced by the state’s two largest universities, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and Arkansas State University.

ASU Chancellor Kelly Damphousse on Friday in a message to campus stated that indoor face- covering requirements will remain in place when the spring semester begins for the Jonesboro campus, which is located in Craighead County, where there has also been a recent surge in covid-19 cases, according to state data.

The number of active covid-19 cases at ASU jumped to 63 as of Wednesday, according to university data, up from 38 active cases two days earlier. Spring semester classes are set to start Tuesday at ASU.

At UA, spring semester classes are set to begin Jan. 18. UA’s intersession classes began Monday.