In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Community College of Philadelphia will be holding all fall semester classes online.
The school made the announcement Tuesday, citing both “the state and local stay-at-home orders” as well as concerns for safety. Courses that can only be held-face-to-face are also postponed until an undetermined date when “it is safe to resume on-campus instruction,” CCP President Donald Guy Generals said in a statement to students, faculty and staff.
“While the future status of local and state stay-at-home orders may allow us to begin to offer some on-campus services in the summer or fall, it was necessary to make a decision now about fall classes to give us time to meet all standards for online course delivery and to make sure we are providing you with enhanced support to help you succeed in your online classes this fall,” Generals said.
The president added that the school will “soon” be in touch with students who already registered for in-person courses about how their classes will be transitioned online. He asked students to continue to check their emails and the college website about updates on the fall semester.
The Community College of Philadelphia is the first college in the city to announce that it will go entirely online in the fall. Temple University, Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania – the three major universities in the city – are still evaluating how they will conduct their fall semesters.
Philadelphia has recently made strides in its fight against the coronavirus, but it continues to be disproportionately affected as the major metropolitan area in the southeast portion of the state. As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 1,243 people had died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in Philadelphia. The city recorded 21,738 total infections.
The Philadelphia health department website says there is still a “high risk of community transmission” in the city.
