TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida university system’s governing board is meeting Tuesday to discuss reopening plans for the system's 12 public universities.
Among the schools that the board oversees include Florida Atlantic University, the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida and Florida State University.
Each school's reopening plan was discussed for about 20 minutes by the board and college representatives.
The governing board approved FAU's reopening plan, which is 25 pages, just after 4 p.m. FAU President Dr. John Kelly was in Tallahassee to present the plan.
The FAU reopening plan includes:
- Dorms at 96 percent capacity
- All employees and students be required to have a face covering with them while on campus
- Quarantine isolation plan should the need arise to isolate students
- Classrooms will be cleaned and sanitized at least daily
- Events (not including athletics) will be limited to 50 people or less
- Classroom capacity would be adjusted including "25% regular capacity for rooms with moveable student seating, including teaching labs. 20% of regular capacity for rooms with fixed student seating"
- All graduate courses would "occur in a fully-remote format unless otherwise approved"
"I think the plan is a good starting point," said FAU graduate student Isaiah Moriarity, who like most of the reopening plan.
One thing that students are worried about is the college allowing 96 percent of housing to be used.
"I was like, 'Why are they doing that?" asked incoming sophomore Zev Chazin.
Chazin said he will not live on campus next year and thinks the school is allowing too many people to return.
The school will have 112 beds in Boca Raton and 12 in Jupiter if students need to be isolated.
Moriarity disagrees with the decision to keep all graduate classes online. He said his classes average about 15 students, and most of them are teachers' assistants who will be on campus anyway.
“We have to be on campus to teach anyway if they allow undergrads on campus,” said Moriarity.
FAU's campus has been closed to students for months after the pandemic hit Florida. According to the university's online academic calendar, classes are scheduled to begin at FAU on Aug. 22.
Other college representatives that presented their plans to the board on Tuesday were also approved.
Last month, the State University System of Florida approved a broad blueprint for how to reopen campuses in the fall, which helped schools finalize their individual plans.
Click here to view the reopening plans for all of the 12 schools under the state university system.
Tuesday's meeting comes at a time when coronavirus cases have spiked in recent weeks in Florida, reaching more than 100,000 confirmed cases on Monday.
