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App State’s Last Day of Classes for Fall Semester is Tuesday; University will Transition to Remote Learning Period After Break for Final Exams

By Nathan Ham and Harley Nefe 

Appalachian State University will hold its last day of classes for the fall semester tomorrow, Nov. 24, before Thanksgiving break which will last through Nov. 27.

After Thanksgiving break, the university will transition to its remote learning and teaching period. All school work will be moved online for the remainder of the fall semester including final exams. Exams will be held from Dec. 3 through Dec. 9, with a virtual December Commencement on Dec. 11. Therefore, many students will be leaving Boone for the remainder of the year beginning this week.

Students will return to campus for the start of the spring semester with the first day of classes beginning Jan. 19. App State already announced that it will cancel spring break, which was originally supposed to be from March 8-12 due to COVID-19 concerns.

Unlike other UNC-system universities like East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, and UNC-Chapel Hill who switched to online-only instruction for the 2020 fall semester, App State kept a variety of classroom instruction types including a mix between face-to-face, hybrid, and online. Approximately 15% of App State’s classes were being taught with face-to-face instruction, 30% were being taught hybrid, and 55% were all remote.

With just over 20,000 students, App State is the largest university in North Carolina that did not switch to online-only instruction. UNC-Greensboro (19,764 students) and UNC-Wilmington (17,915 students) also chose to keep in-person classes an option, along with hybrid and online-only classes. 

Since Aug. 16, App State has seen a total of 781 positive COVID-19 tests from students, faculty, and subcontractors. Four universities within the North Carolina System had more positive COVID-19 tests than App State. UNC-Chapel Hill had the most with 1,408, followed by East Carolina University with 1,400, North Carolina State University with 1,347 and UNC-Charlotte with 809. 

 

Below is a table listing all of the universities within the North Carolina System with their classroom instruction types, number of enrolled students, and total number of positive cases. 

UNC-System Universities Classroom Instruction Types Number of Enrolled Students Total Number of Positive Cases
Appalachian State University  Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 20,023 781 positive tests since Aug. 16
East Carolina University Online-only instruction since Aug. 26 28,651 1,400 positive tests since Aug. 7
Elizabeth City State University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 2,002 72 positive cases since July 1
Fayetteville State University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 6,726 141 positive cases since Aug. 1
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 12,556 510 positive cases since July 1
North Carolina Central University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 8,207 114 positive cases since July 1
North Carolina State University Online-only instruction since Aug. 24 36,304 1,347 positive cases since March 1
University of North Carolina at Asheville Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 3,595 27 positive cases since July 1
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Online-only instruction since Aug. 19 30,101 1,408 positive cases since Feb. 1
University of North Carolina at Charlotte Online-only until Oct. 1 30,146 809 positive cases since July 1
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 19,764 308 positive cases since July 1
University of North Carolina at Pembroke Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 8,262 449 positive cases since Aug. 3
University of North Carolina at Wilmington Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 17,915 747 positive cases since July 1
University of North Carolina School of the Arts Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 1,348 27 positive cases since July 1
Western Carolina University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 12,243 429 positive cases since July 1
Winston-Salem State University Mix of face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes 5,169 132 positive cases since Aug. 1