The University of Washington is suspending in-person classes starting Monday as the Seattle region grapples with an outbreak of COVID-19. It is the first American university to shut down in response to the novel coronavirus, which has been spreading in Washington for weeks.
Health officials this week recommended “social distancing” to prevent the virus from spreading further. They asked employers to encourage employees to work from home when possible, advice that Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other companies in Seattle have heeded.
UW classes will be conducted online for the rest of the quarter, which ends March 20.
Update: Seattle University followed UW’s lead, announcing Friday that in-person classes will be suspended through the winter quarter.
Beginning March 9, classes at SU will not be held in person through winter quarter, March 20. Campus will remain open. This action is to support public health efforts to slow the spread of #COVID19 in the region and promote social-distancing.
For more ➡️ https://t.co/aXBT29bbg0 pic.twitter.com/OOkYT8YiRZ
— Seattle University (@seattleu) March 6, 2020
The university separately announced a staff member who works in the Roosevelt Commons East received a “presumptive positive” test for the virus on Friday. The employee is in self-isolation at home. UW closed the building, located in the 4300 block of 11th Ave NE, for cleaning. The staff member was last in the building in late February.
The staff member’s presumptive positive case of COVID-19 was discovered by a UW diagnostic test. UW was able to expand testing this week after The Food and Drug Administration said it would allow labs to develop their own diagnostics for the virus under expedited approval.
Over the past couple of weeks, the new lab test has been undergoing development and validation — and on Tuesday, the UW Medicine Virology Lab went live with testing actual patient samples.
“The novel coronavirus is not the first challenge this region, or our University, has faced,” said UW President Ana Mari Cauce in an email to faculty and staff. “It will not be the last. In its 158-year history, the UW has endured two world wars, a depression and other crises that have tested our resilience and our compassion. Generation after generation of Huskies have risen to the challenge, working together to support each other through difficult times.”
The COVID-19 outbreak is putting online learning to the test in the Seattle area. The Northshore School District announced Wednesday that all 33 schools would close for up to 14 days. The district, located north of Seattle, is moving coursework to a cloud-based online learning platform beginning Monday, March 9.
UW uses a variety of online learning tools, including Canvas, Panopto, Zoom, and Office 365. UW secured a $200,000 license to provide Zoom Pro to all students for free, according to the university newspaper. For classes that aren’t suited to remote work, other options will be considered. Cauce said in her email some final grades may be issued based on students’ coursework up to this point.
The university’s computer science school had visiting days for prospective graduate students scheduled for March 17-18. Those tours have been canceled and replaced with virtual visits instead. Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, and other major computer science schools followed the University of Washington’s lead, taking visiting days online.
The Washington State Department of Health reported 70 positive cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths associated with the virus on Friday morning. More cases are expected to emerge with expanded testing.
Read Cauce’s email below.
Dear Colleagues,
The last week or so has been difficult as the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has gained a foothold in our region and country. Thank you for the calm, resilience and care that you have demonstrated toward each other, as well as toward our students, patients and communities, as we work together to minimize the impact of the virus on our state. Our focus remains keeping this community healthy as we fulfill our important educational, research and service mission.
With the continued spread of COVID-19 in the region, and in consultation with public health officials regarding social distancing, I write today to announce actions the University of Washington is taking to increase precautionary health measures and ensure the successful conclusion of the quarter for UW students on all of our campuses. Evolving public health recommendations indicate our best course of action is to take additional social-distancing steps to support the region’s efforts against this outbreak and conclude this quarter in an orderly and cohesive way for our students and instructors.
Starting Monday, March 9, classes will no longer be meeting in person. For the remainder of the quarter, instructors are asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20. In some cases, when the nature of a class is not suited for remote delivery, other options, including submitting grades based on work conducted to this point, may be used. Faculty and graduate students will receive additional information in a follow-up message from Provost Mark Richards and Faculty Senate Chair Joseph Janes. Our goal is to make sure that students’ academic work is fairly recognized and that any disruption does not present a disadvantage to their future academic progress, including admission to their preferred major in the months or years to come.
Our campuses will remain open to serve all those who rely on our services, including hospitals and clinics, dining services, residence halls, and recreation and athletics facilities. Husky athletics events will proceed as scheduled.
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. We plan to resume normal class operations when the spring quarter begins March 30, pending public health guidance. When you do return, know that you will be returning to a well-prepared, clean and safe campus.
The novel coronavirus is not the first challenge this region, or our University, has faced. It will not be the last. In its 158-year history, the UW has endured two world wars, a depression and other crises that have tested our resilience and our compassion. Generation after generation of Huskies have risen to the challenge, working together to support each other through difficult times. The University we enjoy today is in many ways a result of their stalwart determination and grace under pressure. Today it’s our turn to take on the challenge of keeping our community safe by listening to public health experts, remaining calm and doing all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our midst. Using common sense, following the best hygiene practices and adhering to our values are our best strategies for keeping everyone safe and healthy. We are fortunate to be in a region that has outstanding medical services and public health infrastructure, and that is already taking steps to increase access to health care in the face of this outbreak.
Finally, this situation continues to be fluid and your best source of up-to-date information is always uw.edu/coronavirus. Once again, I thank you all for your resilience, perseverance and empathy as we make our way through this challenge together.
