Dr. Mo Dehghani, chancellor of Missouri S&T, sent the following message to students, staff and faculty on March 11:
Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,
A year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted how we learn, work, teach and gather. Throughout the most disruptive year of my entire academic career, and probably yours, we’ve worked together to suppress the spread of COVID-19. We’ve been able to keep our campus open since resuming in-person classes last fall, and we’ve seen dramatic reductions to COVID-19 cases since that time. As access to vaccines continues to increase, I am optimistic that we’ll be able to again learn and work together face-to-face next fall. I encourage everyone to get vaccinated when you have the opportunity.
Today I am excited to announce that Missouri S&T plans to return to mostly in-person classes, research, work and student activities for the fall 2021 semester. Classes will begin on Monday, Aug. 23.
Planning efforts will be led by our Incident Command Team (ICT), which has done an exemplary job of leading our university through pandemic-related changes and precautions since the team was established last March. Through their leadership and your diligence, S&T has recorded no transmission of the virus in classrooms, laboratories and residential halls. The ICT will work with individuals throughout campus to determine the many details for our campus community, ranging from the areas of academic affairs and athletics to dining services and university-approved housing.
As Missouri S&T has done since the pandemic began, we will continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19 and create our plans based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and adhere to local and state guidelines. Please remain flexible and ready to pivot if needed.
More details will be shared this semester and throughout the summer.
I am confident that, thanks to our collective efforts over this past year, Missouri S&T will emerge from this challenging time even stronger and more resilient.
Warmly,
Mo Dehghani
Chancellor