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OLLU announces plans for fall reopening

May 07, 2020

OLLU is assembling a team of faculty, staff and student leaders to begin planning for the opening of the three university campuses for the fall semester. The team will be guided by health and safety practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, Texas Department of Health Services and the local health districts in each of the communities served by the university.

Additional details will be provided throughout the summer, but preliminary plans include:

  • A range of instructional options including face to face (with appropriate social distancing), hybrid and online
  • Reopening offline residence halls on the San Antonio campus to allow for greater spacing of resident students
  • New procedures and equipment for more frequent cleaning of high-touch areas
  • New requirements for maintaining social distancing
  • New policies for monitoring students, faculty and staff for symptoms of illness

“OLLU is fortunate that we have a great deal of experience in online and hybrid instruction, an abundance of space on our campuses to allow for social distancing and a university spirit dedicated to personal attention, flexibility and support of our students,” said Dr. Diane E. Melby, OLLU president. “We stand on the shoulders of our founders, the Sisters of Divine Providence, who gave us a legacy of perseverance, determination, strength, service and trust in Providence. We have everything we need to move through this challenging time.”

In 2018, when the university opened the new Lake View Residence Hall, three existing halls were taken offline with plans to convert them to other uses. While some of those spaces have been converted to office and meeting space, there are a number of resident spaces still available in the halls and some spaces can be converted back to resident space. In addition, the university has access to space in the convent building that will allow for more social distancing.

Through a recent $3 million grant to expand hybrid graduate programs to the Rio Grande Valley, OLLU is able to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for online instruction. This will benefit all programs as the university provides more hybrid opportunities. Finally, OLLU’s online Master of Social Work that has served thousands of students across the U.S. prepared OLLU well for the move to online instruction in the spring semester and will continue to serve the university.

At the start of the fall semester, OLLU will launch several new initiatives that will position the university for growth. These include:


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