Pictured above: USF St. Petersburg Orientation leader Sadandré Jackson during Week of Welcome in August 2017. The university announced Friday that all new student orientations scheduled from April through August will now be held online.
Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By Jonah Hinebaugh
New student orientations across the USF system hosted from April through August will now be conducted remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an email to staff, the USF St. Petersburg Orientation Office said the decision for all three campus programs was made Friday.
Incoming students will now attend a two-part orientation session online.
The first part will include “a series of asynchronous online modules which can be completed at their own pace,” according to the email. The second part requires students to log in to a live virtual environment on the day of their scheduled orientation reservation.
“These synchronous sessions will be facilitated live by Orientation Leaders and Orientation staff to ensure that students continue to receive a seamless and individually tailored approach to onboarding,” the Orientation Office said in the email.
Other aspects of orientation — such as students meeting with academic advisers and fielding questions from families — will also be completed online.
So far, four people have tested positive throughout the USF system for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Three of those people were on the Tampa campus, while one was on the St. Petersburg campus.
Additionally, one non-USF employee who worked in a leased space at the USF Research Park facilities on the Tampa campus tested positive. According to the advisory, the person hasn’t been on campus since March 20.
The university also announced on March 26 that students still living on campus would be forced to leave by noon on April 6 unless they apply for an exception and qualify for one of the five categories specified by the university.
On March 25, it also changed the grading policy for all spring semester classes, allowing students to opt for pass/fail grading on a course-by-course basis.
As of 5 p.m. on March 27, there have been 2,900 COVID-19 cases reported in Florida and 34 deaths, according to the Florida Health Department.
Hillsborough County has reported 167 positive cases and one death. Additionally, there have been 77 cases reported in Pinellas County and one death.
This was post was updated at 6:20 p.m. to include an additional USF-related case of COVID-19.
Why are they making so many decision when orientations can be late summer…. why does the school not allow for things to settle down…
We will be refunded all our money… kids and parents… orientation fees…
Also if you are an honor student will you still get priority early enrollment for classes.