Like most colleges in America, the campus looked and felt very different after spring break in mid-March. As the coronavirus swept the country, classes moved online and the majority of students stayed home to finish the semester while meeting with teachers remotely via Zoom.
“We plan to reopen in the fall for classes as usual,” said Union President Vinita Sauder. “Union is best experienced in person and we look forward to having students back on our campus to take advantage of the fantastic mentoring and supportive community here.”
While the college is working on contingency plans in case the coronavirus becomes a problem once again, the campus is reopening this summer for students to work and online summer courses are in full swing.
How Union responded to the coronavirus
- Union moved to an Open Limited status, which meant all instruction moved online and the campus was closed to all visitors.
- Professors continued to teach classes at regular times using Zoom. All tutoring and academic coaching also continued using Zoom.
- Spring break was extended an extra week and all students who didn’t have a specific reason to return to campus were asked to stay home for the remainder of the semester.
- Union instituted an alternate grade policy that allowed students to choose a credit or no credit grade instead of the typical letter grade. This allowed students to take a credit for a class without it impacting their GPA.
- All school-sponsored trips from spring break through the summer were canceled.
- All summer classes were moved online. This summer Union is offering more than 50 online classes to current students at half-price tuition—synchronous and asynchronous courses taught by Union professors plus a wide variety of courses from our online consortium, Acadeum.
Do you know someone thinking about attending Union College this fall? Normally, we’d like them to visit campus in person. That may not be possible right now, so encourage them to schedule a virtual visit. They’ll be able to meet professors, academic advisors and financial aid counselors and learn more about getting ready for college. Schedule a visit at ucollege.edu/visit.
Check out Union’s Youtube channel for a variety of videos answering common students questions as they get ready for college—including live Q&A events with current Union College students. Learn more at youtube.com/unioncollegene.
