BALTIMORE, Md. — The latest word coming out of College Park about what school will look like during the pandemic is that only about 20 percent of classes at the University of Maryland will be held in person.
Many local universities continue to work on plans for the fall, and whether students should return to campus or take their classes online.
At Johns Hopkins University, there is a different concern about online instruction.
Monday, ICE announced international students in the United States would have to return to their home countries if their classes will be held online only this fall.
Johns Hopkins president Ronald Daniels called ICE's decision to deport international students, Draconian.
“International students are now faced with an impossible situation that causes undue stress and undermines their educational aims. Some students will be arbitrarily kept out of the country based on their institution's nnecessary responses to a fast-evolving public health crisis, and others could find themselves in legal limbo in this country if the COVID pandemic takes a turn for the worse and their universities are forced to revert to online education,” Daniels said.
Many of those international students already returned home at the start of the pandemic, but it could affect their future going forward.
Officials at JHU say they will provide more guidance for those student shortly.
Meanwhile, the University of Maryland student newspaper, The Diamondback, revealed what the school's plans are for fall.
Classes at UMD will start August 31 and will end on December 14.
Students will get a normal Thanksgiving break but what's not normal this fall is students are being told about only 20 percent of the school's undergraduate classes will be held in-person.
Classes with more than 50 students , such as large lectures hall classes, will be held online.
Classes which are difficult to take online such as labs, performance courses, and clinical instruction will still take place in-person, as well as internships.
What now has become normal, the wearing of masks along with social distancing also will be in effect on campus.
Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University's fall semester also is scheduled to begin on August 31. It will be comprised of a mix of in-person classes and online, except in-person instruction will end with the Thanksgiving break.
The rest of the semester at JHU then will continue online.
Administrators recognize there are a lot of moving parts still to be finalized for the fall semester but course schedules at both UMD and JHU are expected to be available by Wednesday, July 15.
