Revised Fall Semester Schedule
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Monmouth College will start the fall semester early and conclude classes before Thanksgiving.
Classes will now start on Aug. 18, eight days earlier than the originally planned start day of the 2020 fall semester. Fall classes will end Nov. 24, two weeks earlier than originally planned. Fall break has been eliminated, and the campus will close for most students at Thanksgiving. Finals will be administered remotely after Thanksgiving.
Willhardt noted that research “indicates that best practice is not to allow large populations to gather, return home, then gather again, only to return home a short time later.”
“Based on the information we have, the new academic schedule allows us to meet our educational goals best while also protecting our community,” he said.
Even with a new fall semester schedule, the College will maintain “a degree of flexibility that we have not before,” said Willhardt.
“Some of our students simply won’t be able to return to us, because of preexisting medical conditions, for instance, or proximity to others who are immunocompromised,” he said. “It also means that some of us will continue to teach remotely, for the same reasons. Regardless, we will find ways to work with all of our students, no matter the situation.”
The College’s faculty and staff will begin returning to campus July 1 to prepare for the 2020 fall semester. More information about that plan is available here.
Related Stories
-
A Transfer-Friendly College
Read MoreMonmouth named to national honor roll for its work with community college students.
-
The passing of two presidents
Read MoreIn a one-month span, Monmouth lost a pair of former presidents. Bruce Haywood, who helped increase the endowment and lay a foundation for dramatic expansion in the 21st century, died Jan. 7. Haywood came to Monmouth in 1980, when the endowment was $4.4 million. By the time he retired in 1994, the endowment had grown to $24 million. Haywood succeeded DeBow Freed, who died Feb. 8 in Ada, Ohio. Freed successfully guided the institution through challenging economic times in the 1970s. “Dr. Freed was a powerhouse of a man,” said Monmouth Board of Trustees Chairman Mark Kopinski ’79. “He brought military-style rigor to the College administration at a time of great need.”
