Central Michigan University made the switch to online-only learning almost 2 months ago on March 11, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
They have since postponed May graduation ceremonies until August and are, like many, juggling a lot of uncertainties.
CMU President Dr. Bob Davies says his focus is to keep CMU open and operational.
A question on many minds is, will universities reopen by fall?
Will we see a return to college sports?
President Davies feels it’s too soon to say.
“It’s a little bit too early right now to say what it’s going to be. We are planning all different scenarios. We have a contingency plan of opening face to face, have everything going, and continue forward. We have plans of delay. We have plans of online. We have 5 or 6 different plans that we’re working on,” explained President Davies.
In the meantime, CMU is doing what they can to help students, staff, and faculty get through this pandemic.
President Davies says, “Our decision was made to freeze tuition and we did that because we know families and our students are facing unprecedented times financially. We have significantly increased our scholarships.”
The university’s emergency management team meets regularly to discuss the next move.
With already declining enrollment, that will include budget cuts.
“We will have to do some budget reduction. They’re not going to be slight ones and we’ll probably have to take a really hard look at some of the programs that we offer and ask how we do these in a different way. We will be a smaller, leaner university, but we will maintain our culture,” explained President Davies.
He says he’s cautiously optimistic about the future and proud of the lessons CMU plans to take forward, beyond this pandemic.
A message from President Davies, “Be safe, be warm, wash your hands, and fire up Chips!”
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