Hand sanitizer dispensers are scattered throughout the dorms on campus at UNLV, Tuesday Aug. 18, 2020. This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNLV has taken extra precautions in order to maintain social distance and safety for students while living on campus.
Friday, Oct. 9, 2020 | 6:03 p.m.
UNLV will not be following UNR’s lead in switching to full-time distance education out of pandemic concerns, according to officials.
UNR announced Friday it will be fully remote as of Nov. 30 because of a rise in coronavirus cases. Until then, it will continue to operate in its current mode, with courses that have 35 or more students taught online, while smaller enrollments using the "atlernative-HyFlex modality."
“In the past few weeks, 1 in 9 active positive cases in Washoe County were associated with our university community, and the 18-24 age range continues to be the highest range of new cases,” UNR President Brian Sandoval wrote in a notice.
While UNR had 581 cumulative cases of coronavirus as of Oct. 2, UNLV students and staff accounted for 178 total cases.
“There are no plans to adjust schedules for the fall 2020 or spring 2021 semesters for UNLV at this time. We continue to evaluate our COVID-19 preventative measures and data, and follow guidance from public health officials and the governor’s office,” UNLV spokesperson Tony Allen said.
Eighty percent of classes at UNLV during the semester are already online only. At UNR, 75% of the courses were exclusively online.
“We are a commuter campus, so we don’t have the movement of large groups of students on holiday breaks like residential campuses do. We also aren’t seeing disease spread in younger people like they are in Washoe County,” UNLV epidemiologist Brain Labus said.
Both universities are following similar COVID-19 safety protocols with required face coverings and social distancing in classrooms.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to reflect that UNR is not currently all-remote. | (October 14, 2020)
