CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas A&M Board of Regents voted Friday to reopen the system's campuses for the fall semester.
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is scheduled to reopen Aug. 24.
“Our hope is that students come to campus and have the Islander experience," said TAMU-CC Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Clarenda Phillips. "There is something magical about this island, and it’s the engagement inside the classroom and outside the classroom that makes this place work.”
The university is taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Plexiglass will be positioned between each row of desks in classrooms, and students will be required to sit at least 6 feet from one another.
The goal is to get 25 percent of students on campus for all of their classes, 50 percent of students studying via a mixture of on-campus classes and online, and just a quarter of students studying exclusively online.
"We have students that want that -- and need that -- in-person interaction, so we want to provide that," Phillips said. "We want to provide that rich learning experience. We also have high-quality online courses for students who do well in that course format. That will be an option for them as well. At the end of the day the goal really is that we want to offer a high quality education in the safest manner possible.”
Another safety measure the school is taking -- students who attend classes in laboratories will be required to wear face masks, because of the proximity with other students.
“We will be doing whatever it is that we can to live, learn, and work,” Phillips said.