The University of Alaska is extending spring break and will have students take courses online or via web-conference starting March 23, according to an email sent by UA President Jim Johnsen Thursday. Students who live on campus are being asked to stay or return home or find an alternative place to stay, if possible.

While the state of Alaska has yet to see any confirmed cases of COVID-19, Johnsen said in his email that "prevention is critical."

In a telephone conference Thursday afternoon, Johnsen spoke about the principles used to make decisions around the COVID-19 situation. "One we are seeking as much as we can to operate and to operate in the most-safe possible way." He went on to say, "second, we're leading toward prevention over reaction hence the proactive nature of the actions being announced today."

The University of Alaska system is taking the following steps:

Starting March 23 and potentially for the rest of the semester, most UA courses will be offered using alternate delivery methods (online, audioconference or web-conference, etc.) rather than traditional classroom instruction. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the chancellors for clinical, lab, and other hands-on courses where "social distance" and other personal safety measures can be assured. In addition, we are working to address issues such as computer access and other student needs in ways that maintain social distance. We are extending spring break by one week for students in order to allow faculty time to prepare their courses for alternative delivery methods. That means there will be no classes between now and March 23. Employees should return to work unless affected by restrictions established in separate guidance. We are asking students living in residence halls to either stay at their permanent residences, if they have traveled there for spring break or to make plans to return to their permanent or alternative residences by March 17. Temporary access to residence halls will be provided to access needed personal items and study materials. The universities will provide a process to request exceptions for students who have no other residence or who cannot travel. We are canceling all events and gatherings of 25 people or more between today and March 31. We will revisit the situation later this month and make a decision then regarding events for the rest of the spring semester. We are expanding the restrictions on university-related travel. We are planning extra steps to clean and sanitize university facilities. We are staying in communication with the U.S. Department of Education and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities to ensure accreditation stays in place. We are expanding requirements for employees and others coming to campus to stay home/stay away after returning from travel to certain areas outside Alaska or if they have possible exposure to COVID-19.

The University of Alaska statewide system has

for updates on its response to the threat of COVID-19 coronavirus.

If an outbreak of COVID-19 occurs at one of the campuses, the three chancellors said they had plans in place.

UAA Chancellor Cathy Sandeen said, "Our incident management team here at UAA has been considering that particular issue, the issue of quarantining residential students for a month or so now and we note that we do have extra capacity in our student housing so if it comes to that we would be able to accommodate a student that needed to be isolated and quarantined from other students."

"We have gone through a whole series of planning on how we would handle that specific situation," said UAF Chancellor Dan White. "We've identified residences for that quarantining event. Hopefully we don't get there, but if as you point out, that does happen, we have plans in place at this point."

UAS Chancellor Rick Caufield added, "We have the same plans in place and the expectation that we could accommodate any students that needed to be quarantined."

Exceptions could be made to allow students to stay in the residences. The examples given for what might be a reason for an exception included international students, students from the foster care system that might not have homes to return to and students from rural areas that might not have access to continue their class work.

Alaska Pacific University

Alaska Pacific University is also looking to have its students start taking classes online. APU looks for students to take classes for the remainder of the academic term and is canceling its spring commencement.

APU President Bob Onders outlined the University’s plan. It includes:

Canceling in-person classes through Friday, March 20 to give faculty time to prepare for distance learning.

Resuming a normal class schedule on Monday, March 23, with most classes held online using the University’s Blackboard platform. A handful of classes will continue to meet in person, including science labs and some music courses. Asking resident students to return home for the remainder of the academic term. (Students with extenuating circumstances may request an exception to stay on campus, where there will also be modified dining options available.) Students will be able to store their belongings until the fall term.

Closing Moseley Sports Center and the Atwood gym to public use.

Requesting that advising appointments and other student businesses with campus offices be conducted over the phone or online.

Canceling commencement events in April. Students who graduate in the spring will be invited to participate in the Fall 2020 commencement ceremony.

Wayland Baptist University-Anchorage

Wayland Baptist University-Anchorage is also going online.

This protocol will go into effect from March 16 until April 6. Wayland offices will remain open for normal business.

In a statement, the university says "All Wayland COVID 19-related communication to students and the public will be via our emergency notification system and a special Corona Virus web page located on the Wayland web site."