As you may have read in my letter yesterday, Saint Mary’s is excited to welcome you back to the Winona Campus for in-person instruction and on-campus experiences as scheduled in August 2020. This return will be accompanied by accommodations to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to promote the health and safety of our Saint Mary’s community.
The return-to-campus plan for Winona will feature a condensed fall schedule. Classes will be held on Labor Day, Sept. 7, and during what would have been the October break (Oct. 12-13), thus eliminating any breaks and thereby providing continuous in-person instruction and on-campus engagement until Thanksgiving week. You will be able to begin to return home after classes on Nov. 24. Remaining coursework and final exams or papers will be completed online by Dec. 4.
You are strongly encouraged to stay on campus throughout the entire term. We expect that the modified schedule will limit exposure from visits home for the Thanksgiving holiday. It will also help mitigate the effects if an outbreak were to occur during finals, which coincides with the traditional start of the flu season.
Detailed strategies for operational changes and facilities modifications to guide our work as we prepare for your return to campus are being compiled. In addition, risk assessments and contingency plans have been created to help the university effectively address any outbreaks should that occur. We will continue to work on planning not only for this fall, but for January and the spring semester. You can find more details about these plans on our website.
Please be assured that as we prepare to welcome you back to our campuses in August, we will continue to be guided by our Lasallian Catholic heritage. This includes our ability to be innovative and resilient while remaining steadfast to our commitments, and mindful that our most significant commitments are to the physical health, mental well-being, and spiritual support of our students, faculty, and staff.