Northland Colleges Prepare for Fall Semester

Colleges across the Northland are getting ready to start a new school year next fall but planning is much tougher than usual because of the pandemic.

DULUTH, Minn. – Colleges across the Northland are getting ready to start a new school year next fall but planning is much tougher than usual because of the pandemic.

Coming this fall, area colleges are ready to offer more hybrid options for their students.

Over at Lake Superior College in Duluth, both online and in-person classes are planned when the fall semester starts August 24th.

Some students are already on the LSC campus, making up time they lost when campus access was restricted.

Class sizes will be limited to about 25 per class for the fall semester using social distancing and limited classroom hours.

“So there may be some classes that typically meet twice a week,” said Daniel Fanning, the vice president of external relations at Lake Superior College. “They may meet only once a week or even less but kind of have that combination to have students to come back.”

Some of the more technical and trade programs at LSC like manufacturing and healthcare could have even fewer students per class.

And over at St. Scholastica, in-person classes are scheduled to begin on September 8th. Hybrid classes are also being planned for increased safety.

CSS already shifted about 860 courses to online-only last spring, so flexibility is already part of the process.

“Safety of our students and faculty and staff is our absolute top priority for us for now and in the future,” said Bob Ashenmacher, the executive director of communications at the College of St. Scholastica. “So if we need to pull back or change our plans in any way, we will do that.”

UWS has also announced plans for both on-campus and online classes during the fall semester. A UMD spokesperson tell us school leaders there are still in the planning stages for exact fall semester plans.