After announcing that the first two weeks of classes will be virtual at the beginning of the month via email to students, many at UTRGV have wondered if this was going to mean a repeat of 2020’s remote learning.
According to the email sent to the UTRGV community, this would only affect the first two weeks of the semester in order to minimize the effect that the new Omicron variant would have on the community.
UTRGV Associate President for Marketing and Communication Patrick Gonzales went further into detail and explained the 2 biggest reasons for the decision.
“The first [one] was the outbreak of the omicron variant. As you know, the omicron variant is producing a spike of positive cases throughout the country and throughout the Rio Grande Valley region… The second reason is we want our campus community to use these next two weeks of virtual to get vaccinated or to get boosted.”
Gonzales explained that projection charts from different medical organizations show that the number of positive cases would peak in the Rio Grande Valley around the time classes would begin.
Gonzales assures that there are no current plans to extend online learning past January 31 but notes that there is a chance things can change if there’s another spike.
“There is a chance for everything…today as I am speaking to you, we will return to normal operations on January 31st.”
Gonzales says that UTRGV encourages students to continue following protocols which can be found on the university’s website.
Some students like English Sophomore Karina Sandolval says she would be “bummed out” if classes were to continue being virtual past the month of January.
“I mean I just have to stay home and do the online learning which I don’t really like only because it’s a little bit harder to stay on track and focused when you’re at home 24/7.”
For any more updates on class modalities or campus news,
This is Rodolfo Alvarado with Vaquero Radio.
