WPI will reopen to students in August, allow for remote flexibility

Photo | Grant Welker Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute will reopen its campus to students in August, according to a Wednesday announcement from college president Laurie Leshin.

“I am so looking forward to welcoming you back to our beautiful campus,” Leshin said in an announcement posted to the school’s website. “And as of today, that’s where we are headed.”

Leshin said the decision came from a unanimous recommendation from the school’s Coronavirus Emergency Response Team and was supported by the school’s board of trustees. However, as is the case at other schools looking at a fall reopening, classes and programming will look very different than usual due to plans for social distancing and increased sanitation. Leshin made clear in her announcement that students, faculty and staff would have to be prepared to be flexible as they adjust to new campus systems and the possibility of a forthcoming coronavirus surge.

“To be clear, the stakes are high,” Leshin said. “Operating our campus in the era of COVID-19 is perhaps the greatest challenge WPI has ever faced. But we are WPI. We are a community of problem solvers.”

As for classes, the school will implement what Leshin termed TechFlex, which will promote de-densifying in-person teaching. It will allow students to choose whether to engage remotely for classes, whether one time, for some, or for all, regardless of the reason. Graduate students will likely have the bulk of their classes take place remotely with exceptions for labs, discussion sections and research.

Students will have to tell WPI whether they plan to engage remotely, in-person or a hybrid of both, by July 26, according to Leshin.

Nodding to the ever-changing nature of the coronavirus pandemic, Leshin said it was possible these plans could change in the next two months, and said the school would reaffirm its opening decision in August.

Plans for athletics, clubs and events are still being worked out.

The bulk of the area’s colleges have announced similar reopening plans, including Nichols College in Dudley, as well as Clark University in Worcester, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Worcester State University, Framingham State University and Fitchburg State University. Nichols, Clark and Holy Cross will close their physical campuses after Thanksgiving, and Clark will also push its spring semester nearly a month forward, with plans to resume in February.

Quinsigamond Community College, in contrast, will remain exclusively online for the fall semester.