Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
Recently I came across a quotation from Corrie Ten Boom: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” In this time of uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus and its effects, this truth comforts us, reminding us that God will meet all our needs, now and in the future.
I wanted to write you and let you know that we are closely monitoring the developments on residential college and university campuses regarding the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). As you may have heard, many colleges and universities have suspended face-to-face classes, moving them online—most for two or three weeks, some for the remainder of the semester.
One way Welch is different from many schools is that our spring break started a week later than that of many schools, meaning that our normal break would end a week later as well. This gives us a little more time to monitor the situation and make appropriate decisions.
Some institutions have elected to extend spring break, followed by a two-to-three-week period of online coursework. It will probably be necessary for us to do this. One advantage we have at Welch is that we conducted the first part of the Spring 2017 semester in just this way, owing to the late opening of our newly constructed campus that semester. Thus we don’t anticipate a difficult transition to online classes if and when we feel the need to make that transition.
Provost Dr. Matthew McAffee and I met today with the co-chairmen of the Special Committee, Craig Mahler and Greg Fawbush, to discuss next steps. Our plan is to keep abreast of the developing situation over the weekend and make a final decision on Monday. I will inform you then of the details of our teaching and learning situation going forward.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Sincerely,
Matt Pinson
President