Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber said Monday the school will decide in early July whether the undergraduate teaching program will be online or residential in the fall term.
“Our ability to restart our in-person teaching and research will depend upon whether we can do so in a way that respects public health and safety protocols,” said Eisgruber in an open letter to the Princeton Community on the University’s website on Monday.
Eisgruber
The University is exploring ways to safely and responsibly reopen Princeton’s laboratories, libraries and other facilities when state law permits.
Princeton University was the first New Jersey institution to announce it was moving to virtualize any activities, such as lectures, seminars and precepts, as of March 23. Eisgruber said on March 10 that the new policies will be in place through April 5 and that the school would also reassess the policies as that date approached.
On Monday, he said while it seemed the disruption might prove short term, “[t]hat is no longer so.”
“We want our decision to be as fully informed as possible. We will undoubtedly learn more about the course of the pandemic, and about the techniques available to combat it, over the next two months. For that reason, Princeton will wait until early July before deciding whether our undergraduate teaching program will be online or residential in the fall term.”
Eisgruber also touched on how the school might move forward economically, in ways to reduce the University’s operating expenditures, salary freezes, tighter vacancy management, and reductions to non-essential expenditures.
