Graduation in September? KY colleges alter class schedules, student aid for COVID-19
Upended by the coronavirus, Kentucky’s universities are making graduation, scheduling and financial aid changes.
EKU has announced it will hold a virtual graduation ceremony for its spring 2020 graduates on May 16. The university said it also has plans to hold an in-person ceremony in August.
EKU’s in-person commencement ceremonies were originally scheduled for May 8 and May 9, but were postponed. Spring 2020 graduates who ordered regalia will have it mailed to them, according to an EKU announcement, and the graduating students can upload photos of themselves in their cap and gown to be part of the ceremony.
Western Kentucky University has also announced its new plans after postponing spring commencement. President Timothy Caboni told the campus Monday that WKU would hold a graduation ceremony for its spring 2020 graduates during Parent and Family Weekend in September. In 2019, Parent and Family Weekend was the last weekend in September. The plans are tentative, Caboni said.
“If the COVID-19 pandemic prohibits a celebration in September, we will regroup and alter our plans, again with our spring 2020 graduates as the guiding voice,” Caboni said.
Caboni also announced four “Restart WKU Committees,” designed to keep WKU on track for resuming operations once in-person classes resume, which is still scheduled to happen in the fall. These include the Academics and Inquiry Committee; the Student Experience and Engagement Committee; the Environment, Operations, and Physical Plant Committee; and the Athletics Committee.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is still deciding how to honor its graduating seniors across its 16 colleges and 70-plus campuses.
“We are still assessing the best ways to honor and celebrate our graduates and hope to have final plans in the next week or so,” KCTCS President Jay K. Box said in a statement. “Some of the 16 colleges are coming up with fun ways to recognize their graduates this spring with videos, yard signs and cards.”
Centre College switches to ‘block’ scheduling to improve flexibility
Centre College announced Monday it would adopt block scheduling for the fall 2020 semester. The schedule format is designed to be more flexible, according to an announcement posted to Centre’s website by Chief Communications Officer Michael Strysick.
The scheduling style will take a 13-week schedule with four courses and divide it into two “blocks” of six weeks and two days, with two courses in each block, according to Strysick.
Centre will offer classes full-time in the fall, regardless of the state of the coronavirus pandemic, Centre President John Roush said in the announcement.
“The clear intention of Centre College is to be open for the entire 2020-2021 academic year,” he said in a statement, “though it is understood that we will do so in ways, following broader guidelines and recommendations, that protects our students, faculty and staff, as well as the larger Danville and Boyle County community.”
Classes will start Aug. 26, five days earlier than expected. The first block will end Oct. 13. There will be a week-long break before the second block starts on Oct. 21 and ends on Dec. 11.
The classes will be 90 minutes each and will meet five days a week. Most science courses with labs will hold lectures Monday, Wednesday and Friday with labs on Tuesday and Thursday, Strysick said.
The schedule will allow Centre to easily switch from in-person to remote teaching, if necessary, Strysick said.
Schools decide how to distribute money to students
On April 10, Kentucky colleges and universities found out they were getting a share of $156 million to help cover financial concerns caused by coronavirus. At least half of that money had to go to students, according to the CARES Act, the federal coronavirus stimulus package passed in March.
Some schools have made preliminary decisions on how they will get money to students. EKU said it would identify “known areas of need” for students when first distributing money. Kristi Middleton, the spokeswoman for the university, said that would start with students who worked at the university and lost income, as well as students with housing needs.
Once those needs are met, EKU will develop a plan for distributing the rest of the money to other students impacted by coronavirus, Middleton said. The university wants to get the money to students “as quickly as possible,” Middleton said.
The University of Louisville posted an application to its financial aid website last Friday, which students could fill out to request money, according to spokesman John Karman. As of Tuesday, the university had received over 1,300 applications.
In order to qualify, students must be in an undergraduate, graduate or professional program and enrolled in spring 2020 classes. They also must have expenses related to COVID-19 and meet other eligibility criteria,Karman said.
U of L will prioritize Pell Grant recipients and students with the highest need as determined by their 2019-2020 FAFSA forms, Karman said.
“From there, the goal is to meet the needs of students while putting some caps in place to spread the dollars to as many students as possible,” Karman said in an email. “Realizing that COVID-19 will continue to affect students, the plan is to look at expenses from summer and fall classes as well. Our ability to fund future expenses will depend on remaining funds.”
The University of Kentucky hasn’t announced its finalized distribution plans yet, spokesman Jay Blanton said.
“We received notification late Wednesday that the disbursement of funds from the federal government to UK as part of the CARES act is set-up,” Blanton said in an email. “We expect to release information early next week about our plan for awarding funds to eligible students with COVID-related needs as quickly as possible.”
More tuition freezes
Northern Kentucky University announced a tuition freeze for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. The undergraduate tuition rate will not change from its current cost of $413 per credit hour (in-state), President Ashish Vaidya said.
“There is so much uncertainty right now due to COVID-19, and freezing the tuition rate is one way we can provide stability for our students,” Vaidya said in a statement. “In recognizing the impact on our students, we believe freezing the tuition shows our commitment to both our students and the region.”
NKU has also taken other steps for students, which included processing over $3 million in refunds/credits for parking, housing and dining fees for the spring semester.
Morehead State University had previously announced it would freeze its tuition rate as well.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 8:42 AM.