SEATTLE _ The University of Washington will stop meeting for classes on campus beginning Monday, and officials are asking instructors to hold classes and exams remotely until the winter quarter ends March 20.
Classes will go remote at all three of the university's campuses, affecting more than 48,000 students in Seattle, nearly 6,000 in Bothell and about 5,300 in Tacoma. Seattle University announced similar plans Friday.
The moves come amid rising cases of COVID-19 in Washington, the epicenter of the nation's novel coronavirus outbreak _ and news on Friday that a university staff member who was tested for the illness received a presumptive positive result. This is the first person associated with UW who is known to test positive; four students were tested in late January, but their tests came back negative. Although they came back negative, the tests were done using a coronavirus test that hasn't yet been federally approved and will not be considered confirmed until state Department of Health reviews the cases.
The staff member, who works in Roosevelt Commons East, an office space west of campus, is in isolation at home. UW rents several floors in the private office building, which is used by administrative staff.
On Friday morning, university President Ana Mari Cauce sent a letter to faculty and staff announcing the plans to go remote. The university made the decision before officials were aware of the staff member's presumed positive result, Cauce told press Friday afternoon.
"In addition to providing maximum flexibility for our university community to take health precautions and finish classes this quarter, this transition provides our facilities crews additional time to deep clean classrooms, auditoriums, libraries, restrooms and other public spaces, as is their standard practice," she wrote.
Classes are expected to resume in person when the spring quarter begins March 30, but at a news conference Friday afternoon, Cauce cautioned she doesn't have a "crystal ball and can't say where we are going to be with COVID-19 three weeks from now."
Many university courses already include online components, said UW spokesperson Victor Balta, such as online lectures and assignment portals. The university is encouraging faculty to use Zoom, a video and audio conferencing application, to host virtual lectures and seminars. "It's really a matter of scaling up what is already being done," he said.
Galya Diment, a professor of Slavic languages and literatures, did a trial run with one of her classes on Thursday after students expressed concern about being on campus. Diment, whose husband works at The Seattle Times, uploaded slides to a Google platform that allowed her to post lecture notes and answer her students' questions.
"The level of participation was even a bit higher than it usually is in the classroom," she said. "It's not ideal, it's of course better to do it in person."
Some instructors may choose to end the quarter early. For classes that aren't suited for remote instruction, Cauce said, instructors may submit students' final grades based on work they've completed so far.
The decision caused a mix of relief and concern for UW junior Cooper Wechkin, 21, a business administration major who lives off campus. Wechkin's mother has health concerns and he plans to visit her in Bellingham in a few weeks; knowing he doesn't have to visit campus has put him more at ease about his risk of getting infected and passing the illness to his mom. "But it's a little stressful," he said, since there's now uncertainty about his ongoing assignments and final grades.
University hospitals and clinics, dining and residence halls and recreation facilities will remain open, she said. Officials say they've doubled their cleaning efforts and are paying particular attention to doorknobs, elevator buttons and other areas that get touched often.
Seattle University also plans to go online starting on Monday; in an email to faculty and students, university president Stephen Sundborg said in-person classes are suspended until further notice. Campus remains open, however.
