The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities' campuses plan to reopen this fall, CSCU President Mark Ojakian announced Friday.
The system's four universities will be able to start bringing residential and commuter students back to campus on Monday, August 24, according to a press release.
The 12 community colleges will be able to offer on ground courses starting June 1 for spring semester students who need to finish their classwork and for new students to enroll in workforce development education. Those schools can also bring students back for the fall on August 24.
"I am excited to announce that we are planning to return to our campuses in fall 2020 with significant measures in place to make our institutions as safe as possible," Ojakian said.
Classes at the universities will begin as planned through Thanksgiving. However, the remainder of classes and exams will be done online for the rest of the semester after Thanksgiving.
In a letter sent by Central Connecticut State University President Zulma Toro to faculty, Toro said some classes will be fully online but some will be a "HyFlex model" where faculty can teach a class to students where some are online and some are in the classroom.
The first day of classes at CCSU will be August 26.
"You are not alone if you have more questions than answers at this point, but I ask for your continued patience," Toro said in the letter to faculty.
Toro said testing and contract tracing were the "greatest hurdles at this point."
Charter Oak State College will offer its online classes through the summer and fall.
"We still have a lot of planning to do and more questions need to be addressed in the coming weeks and months," Ojakian said.
Each campus will be required to write a plan to meet the state's health and safety standards for reopening.
Ojakian said additional details will be shared in the coming weeks.
