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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia University is canceling a week of its classes at the end of this month before beginning online-only courses for all of its students in response to concerns over the coronavirus.
In an email sent to students late Tuesday, WVU President Gordon Gee announced that classes would be canceled from March 23-27 -- the week students were scheduled to return to class after spring break -- and students would then be required to attend classes through "online or other alternative learning options" beginning March 30.
Gee urged all students to remain home after spring break until university officials determined it is safe to return to campus.
The school's faculty will be informed about how to proceed over the next few days, Gee said, and then students would receive instructions from their teachers about how to access their courses remotely.
"We are at a unique moment in our world's history of public health challenges," Gee said. "I know that many of you have questions and concerns about how the novel coronavirus is affecting our campuses. Let me start by stating that our highest priority is always the safety and well-being of our faculty, staff, students and community."
Gee said administrators have been working with local and state health officials on the response, and decided to take the unusual step of stopping in-person classes in favor of the online options.
"I trust that we will approach this challenge with our uniquely resilient Mountaineer character," Gee said. "Working together, we will sustain our highest purpose-making our world a better place through learning and service."
The campus will still remain open, he said.
Any students living in a residence hall and who want to remain in Morgantown through spring break and after should fill out a residence hall break housing form at housing.wvu.edu.
No cases of coronavirus, or COVID-19, have been reported in West Virginia as of late Tuesday.
However, Gee said the "unprecedented and rapidly changing public health situation" required university officials to take the unusual step of moving classes into an online component.
"While we know these steps are necessary, we also know the heart of the university experience is the exchange of ideas that occur in our classrooms and on our campuses every day," Gee said. "We are disrupting this process only in an effort to keep our WVU community safe."
Health sciences students involved in clinical rotations or clinical work should await to hear more information from their program's leadership and academic deans, Gee said.
Meanwhile, university-related international travel was suspended and domestic travel was discontinued for non-essential university business. Anyone who was traveling for professional or personal reasons is being asked to voluntarily register their trip at wvuabroad.wvu.edu. so school officials can monitor pertinent information.