Tuesday, Mar 9, 2021
Return would include extensive in-person teaching and activities and residential housing
by Adam Grybowski
Rider University intends to resume extensive in-person teaching, residential housing, and on-campus activities and events beginning this fall.
In a letter to the campus community on March 8, President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D., and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs DonnaJean Fredeen, Ph.D., wrote that they are “cautiously optimistic” about the return to more-normal campus operations.
Plans for the fall semester ultimately depend on how the pandemic, and along with it, state and federal regulations, evolve between now and then. Coronavirus cases nationwide continue to decline, with numbers as low as they've been in months. The U.S. is now administering more than two million vaccine doses every day, and the supply is expected to increase as the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine is distributed.
With the resumption of in-person teaching, Dell’Omo and Fredeen said they did not anticipate academic courses being offered in hybrid or remote formats. In essence, courses would revert to their pre-pandemic format. In-person classes would once again be available in person. Online courses would continue in that format only if they were available that way before the pandemic.
The University is preparing to support a greater number of residential students and on-campus activities in the fall. The use of facemasks and other safety measures would be required as needed and dictated by federal and state COVID-19 regulations. Dell’Omo and Fredeen emphasized that Rider will continue to “prioritize the health and well-being of our campus community.”
Rider also announced its intention to announce a gradual return to work plan for employees and implement it “over the next several months and beyond.”
“We hope today’s announcement provides a very high-level overview and expectations for our return to campus, but we know you most likely have many more questions yet to be answered,” the letter stated. “We ask for your patience as we work through the myriad of details required to make this transition a smooth one.”
Information about fall plans will be posted on Rider’s Resolved and Ready website as it becomes available.