PIERRE, SD – The South Dakota Board of Regents has decided that fall classes will be held on campus at the state’s universities. Classes have been online since spring break in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
USD President Sheila Gestring says there still a lot of details to work through. “We want to have students back on campus in the fall. Obviously we have some work to do, making sure we stay up to date on CDC guidelines. It won’t be a 100 percent normal but maybe it can be better than experiences in the past.”
Gestring says there are a number of financial questions for them and students. “There are a lot of scary numbers being thrown around right now. Everything is still fluid so we just don’t know. We’re doing everything we can to advocate for our students.”
Gestring says they are working with the state’s Congressional delegation on expanding the uses of federal stimulus dollars. “In prior stimulus funding in the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009, the stimulus dollars provided to higher education were at much higher levels than the current stimulus package. But higher education is going to be critical for our country and our state recovery both from an economic development standpoint and a workforce development standpoint.”
The first day of classes is set for August 24th. The university has also set October 24th as graduation day for the class of 2020.
