Cal State Long Beach will cancel face-to-face classes for the rest of the spring semester, moving them to an online or otherwise remote format, officials announced Tuesday.
Following other universities across the country, the campus of more than 36,000 students moved to alternative forms of instruction last week with plans to resume normal operations on April 20. But officials on Tuesday said the campus has now opted to close in-person instruction for the remainder of the semester, which ends May 22.
Students who live in dorms are also being strongly encouraged to vacate by March 27, unless they are international students and cannot, spokesman Jeff Cook said. Normally 2,680 students are in on-campus housing, he said. Students who cannot vacate their dorms for any reason are being asked to communicate their situation with student housing officials. They may be asked to change rooms in order to achieve social distancing, according to Cook.
The campus will also postpone spring commencement and related cultural celebrations.
The moves are meant to promote social distancing, something that can slow the spread of COVID-19 and help avoid overburdening hospitals with serious cases of the disease, which typically has mild symptoms, according to health officials.
“We must do our best to accomplish extreme social distancing,” President Jane Close Conoley said in a note to students and staff. “We are not closing our campus, nor suspending essential operations including instruction. Rather, we must transition to meet the demands of our new reality by lowering the campus population of employees and students, invoking social distancing techniques throughout.”
Staff will be asked to continue to work remotely on most days. The campus remains open, including housing and other services.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information about student housing.