TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Board of Governors announced all state universities will make plans to transition to remote course instruction as soon as possible due to coronavirus concerns.
The University of South Florida will start online courses after Spring Break on March 23.
"Whenever your class is scheduled, that's when you'll log in as a student and the professor should be there communicating with you. However, in some cases, professors may show some flexibility," said Ralph Wilcox, Provost and Executive Vice President with USF.
The university's officials said there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus within the USF community. However, about a dozen student and staff members have self-isolated after returning from international trips in countries the CDC lists as "high-risk."
"We were directed by the Florida Board of Governors to begin transitioning all of our classes to remote instruction for the next two weeks following Spring Break," said USF President Steven Currall.
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Students agree classes should be changed to online courses.
"I think the online school is the best action now to protect us," said Youssef Maksoud, an international student.
"I know a lot of the people being affected are older people and people who have a weakened immune system. I am not too afraid for it. It's just being clean and washing our hands and doing what we can," said Aaron Berger.
USF officials said classes would continue through the remainder of the week. USF officials ask students to return home during Spring Break and not to return to campus for at least two weeks since classes will be online. Students who live on campus may remain in the residence halls if they cannot return home.
Some students said online courses may make things more complicated.
"It's just kind of an annoyance more than anything. I know some people are excited, but I am a chemistry major and it's going to be tough with labs online especially," said Bailey Richardson, a USF student.
