Author: Sam Buisman

The UW-Madison plans to conduct hybrid courses not just for the Fall semester but for the entire 2020-2021 school year.

According to a blog post from Chancellor Rebecca Blank, classes at the UW-Madison will likely consist of a mix between online and in-person instruction throughout the academic year. The Chancellor said that the curriculum will maximize the amount of face-to-face learning activities students can receive while remaining safe from COVID-19 and virtualize those that they cannot, while still making as much of the content remotely accessible as possible.

Chancellor Blank acknowledged the frustration that both online courses and the restrictions of this health crisis may be causing students.

“We all want to be on campus and yearn to restart some of the in-person instruction and social interactions that make UW-Madison so wonderful,” wrote the Chancellor, “however, we are in an incredibly fluid situation with a great deal of uncertainty.”

While the University is still finalizing its plans, the Chancellor wrote that “larger lectures will almost surely be offered remotely.” Other possible changes may include organizing smaller classes and hosting them and discussion sections in larger rooms to allow for social distancing.

The Chancellor wrote that a group of officials is specifically planning for classes involving clinical, field or laboratory training that requires students to be physically present.

According to the blog post, the University will make a final decision by the end of July on how many in-person classes they can run.