N.C. A&T Releases Academic Calendar for Fall 2020 With Significant Changes

N.C. A&T Releases Academic Calendar for Fall 2020 With Significant Changes

GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 18, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University leaders released the academic calendar for the fall 2020 term today, with significant changes to help keep students, faculty and staff healthy and minimize community spread, even as the coronavirus pandemic plays out across the country in coming months. 

Classes – both in-person and online – will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Virtual new student orientation sessions will be held this summer, and in-person sessions are planned to begin on Aug. 10, covering preparatory material that could not be as effectively handled via the online orientation modules. 

Most significantly, the usual two-day Fall Break and Reading Day have been canceled to enable in-person instruction to end at Thanksgiving and allow student to return home for the remainder of the year. Final exams will be proctored online on their regular schedule in December, and continuing students will return for the spring 2021 term in January.

“While we will be prepared to resume in-person instruction this fall, we are taking important steps to significantly reduce the number of students on campus in late November and December, to help manage community spread of infection,” said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Beryl C. McEwen. “As the largest historically black university in the nation, we appreciate the special challenge that we face to protect our sizable student body, and we will be working throughout the summer to make sure we are ready.”

Commencement is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12, with the assumption at this time that an in-person ceremony will be possible. As the year progresses, university leaders will closely monitor environmental conditions to make a final determination on both that ceremony, as well as a date for an in-person commencement for the spring 2020 class, whose ceremony was cancelled.

For A&T employees, two major annual fall gatherings will take place as originally scheduled: New Faculty Orientation on Wednesday, Aug. 12, and Professional Development Day on Thursday, Aug. 13, which will be offered virtually.