Montana State University is moving up the start of fall semester by two weeks to limit the spread of COVID-19, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported.
Fall classes will start Aug. 17 and will end Nov. 25, the story said. With the new dates, students won’t have to return to campus after Thanksgiving, reducing travel and the potential for spreading COVID-19, university president Waded Cruzado told the newspaper in an email. It also reduces the chances of the flu and COVID-19 hitting campus at the same time, she said.
Also, a longer winter break could also allow the university to offer a winter session with online classes, Cruzado said.
“With the COVID-19 situation, we have learned to choose not between a good and a bad option, but rather between options that will afford the best long-term benefits for the largest number of people in our communities,” she wrote in the email.
Spring semester is scheduled to start Jan. 11 and end May 10, 2021.
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