From President Marrero: Looking ahead to summer and fall semester at Georgia Southern – March 5, 2021

Eagle Nation,

March 5, 2021

It was almost one year ago that we transitioned our spring 2020 semester to fully online instruction. I don’t think any of us could have predicted how much we were challenged and how much we have grown over the last twelve months.

Today, our COVID-19 numbers, like the region, state, and country, are trending down significantly and we continue to provide vaccines to our eligible faculty, staff, and students — anticipating expanded availability of the COVID-19 vaccine through the spring and summer months.

As we look ahead, what does that mean for Georgia Southern?

The 2021 summer semester will look much like this spring, with our normal mix of online and face-to-face course offerings, some very innovative lab and studio delivery options for our students, and an expanding array of opportunities to engage our communities on campus. 

All our safety protocols, as guided by the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), will remain in place this summer. At home and on campus, we must continue to Do Right by limiting face-to-face gatherings, remaining socially distant, wearing face-coverings, and washing our hands. Please visit https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/covid-19-information/ to review the protocols and guidance our university community will continue to follow into the summer months.

For Fall 2021, we are currently planning for a full return to campus, which means resuming “normal” operations with in-person instruction, research, events, service, and activities, and full dining and housing operations. 

As we outlined in our Return to Campus Plan, we will continue to be guided and directed by health and safety guidelines, which will ultimately determine our timeline and whether we need to again shift to a contingency plan outlined in the document.

We will maintain our practice of regularly assessing business continuity measures to ensure we can continue to meet public health guidelines and our core mission of student success.

We also will continue to provide regular updates about our operations, vaccine availability and public health issues important to our communities.

Because of you – our faculty, staff, and students – we have persevered, adapted, even grown throughout this pandemic. Our commitment to the transformational power of education has remained steadfast, and we look forward with optimism to the days ahead.  

Sincerely,
Dr. Kyle Marrero
President

Last updated: 4/2/2022