Opening Up? Higher ed institutions plan to bring more students back to campus as COVID-19 vaccines roll out. s the Pfi zer vaccine for COVID-19 begins to roll out to states, many in the higher ed sector and be-yond are beginning to look forward to some sense of normalcy. A By Autumn A. Arnett that experience for them.” Orlando says roughly 40% of UF undergrads who have registered for classes for the spring are taking at least one in-person class. In-person class capacity is being reduced by 80%; the remainder of students will receive synchronous instruction online. Classes will be physically distanced, with students six feet apart and professors up to 11 feet from the students, and masks are mandatory inside all university buildings. All faculty members will be provided with fi ve N-95 masks and some disposable masks to hand out to students who may have forgotten theirs. ere will be hand sanitizer located in every classroom, which will be cleaned daily. University of Florida offi cials say students are overwhelmingly posi-tive about mask and social distancing mandates on campus. (Photo courtesy of the University of Florida) e University of Florida (UF), for example, is planning to off er roughly the same number of in-person class sections as the institution off ered in the spring of 2020, before the pandemic hit. “It’s not a small number of students who have expressed an interest in getting the in-person experience,” says Steve Orlando, UF’s assistant vice president for communications. “ … Because they have interest, we think it’s important to provide
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