RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas Tech University (ATU) announced Friday (March 12) they plan on returning to normal this fall on their campuses in Russellville and Ozark following a year of changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Returning to "normal" means resuming in-person class schedules and campus activities, ATU President Dr. Robin E. Bowen says.
“Recent decreases in the number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, the new standards for gatherings announced this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the proven efficacy and increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines have provided our university with sufficient reason to believe that it will be safe and appropriate to resume full normal operations by August, Bowen said.
ATU pivoted to virtual classes and remote operations in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The university slowly started going back to limited in-person instruction in the summer and into the current school year.
The university is operating under phase one of its pandemic recovery framework. If the number of COVID-19 cases within the ATU community decrease or remains steady in the upcoming weeks, ATU plans to transition to phase two of its pandemic recovery framework on Monday, April 12, 2021. This would increase the number of individuals permitted to gather in a specific place on campus at ATU from 30 to 50.
Mandatory face coverings and social distancing protocols will still be in place through Spring 2021 and will be reviewed in the summer.
In the upcoming weeks, more information will be communicated to the staff about the full resumption of in-person university support operations.