Northwest Nazarene University announced Wednesday that its transition to remote learning will be extended through the end of the Spring semester. Additionally, all university faculty and staff who are able will begin working remotely Monday, March 23, 2020. Only those employees critical to maintaining the infrastructure of university operations will continue to work on campus. These decisions were made in response to the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic and with a desire to act in the best interests of all members of the NNU Community.
“[These decisions] are some of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make as leader,” NNU President Joel Pearsall said in his communication to the campus community. “It is critically important at this time in our nation that we follow the guidance that our governmental officials are giving us.”
Students are currently on an extended Spring Break that runs from March 14 - March 29. They will continue their classes that were previously offered face-to-face remotely beginning March 30 through the remainder of the semester. All fully-online classes will not be impacted by this decision and will continue as scheduled. At this time, commencement has been temporarily postponed until a date can be confirmed.
All university buildings are scheduled to close Friday, March 20 at 5 pm. The university will use Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20 to prepare employees to transition to a remote work environment. Residence halls will close Saturday, March 21, 2020 at noon. The university is working with all impacted students to make necessary arrangements to ensure students continue to receive the support they need at this time.
NNU has established a task force that is meeting daily to monitor the ongoing developments of COVID-19 regionally, nationally and globally. Additional details are still being determined and will be communicated at nnu.edu/covid19 as further decisions are made.