Community College of Philadelphia to continue all-remote classes through end of spring semester

The Community College of Philadelphia's suspension of in-person learning for the fall semester has been extended through the end of the school's spring term.

The move to keep classes primarily online next semester, as well, is "to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff," Community College of Philadelphia President Donald Guy Generals wrote on the school's website.

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A limited number of credit and noncredit workforce development programs will continue to be held in-person, if it is deemed safe to do so. All students will still have access to online support services through the school's virtual student resource center. 

Despite no in-person instruction, the school said that it will continue to conduct thorough cleaning and disinfection of its campus. 

Generals cited the continued high risk of COVID-19 transmission in Philly as the school's reason for implementing all-remote learning for the remainder of the academic year. On Tuesday, Philadelphia officials said the rate of new COVID-19 cases is the lowest it has been since the early days of the pandemic, but among the new infections that had been reported, about one-quarter of the patients were college-aged people, a trend that has been occurring throughout the United States.

"I hope that this decision allows students the peace of mind that they will be able to continue to learn in a safe, healthy environment from home, and that students have the time needed to plan their spring classes around their many commitments," Generals wrote.

"While I am disappointed that we are prevented from gathering together in person anytime soon, we know that this will pass, and we look forward to the day when we can celebrate on campus as a College community once again."

Community College of Philadelphia decided in May  May that all fall semester classes would be held online due to the COVID-19 crisis. At the time there were more strict stay-at-home orders being implemented by the city and the state, as well as concerns about being able to offer classes in a safe environment.

About one-third of CCP's 19,500 students already take hybrid or online classes, which made the school better prepared to go completely online.

The Community College of Philadelphia was the first Philly-area college to commit to all-remote learning for the fall semester and is the first to do so for the spring term, as well.

Other Philly-area colleges that are conducting all-remote learning this semester include Temple, Penn, Drexel, La Salle, West Chester, and Rutgers.