Emporia State President Allison Garrett says the fall 2020 semester is “a strange time to be in education,” and coronavirus has everything to do with that. Still, she’s pleased the impact of the virus hasn’t been as negative as it has been elsewhere.
A lot of that, she says, has to do with extensive preparation before the fall semester began.
Garrett says ESU has been able to keep a high percentage of face-to-face classes so far. She also says the ability to do broad testing, both before and during the semester, has been “hugely helpful” to this point.
One of the big concerns going forward is funding. Garrett says the current round of federal relief has to be spent by the end of the calendar year, and at this time no plans have been finalized to help with spring semester expenses.
Emporia State announced one new case on its dashboard Friday, pushing the total since mid-August to 54 cases. Ten cases are active.
Enrollment numbers won’t be announced for several days yet, but Garrett says graduate enrollment is at record levels and retention rates remain high. Not surprisingly, ESU “took a big hit” with international students — as have other universities across the country.
As a whole, Lyon County has 1,051 cases since March with seven cases added Friday and 20 cases since last Monday. The active caseload is at 58. The death toll is 33. The number of deaths awaiting final cause is at four. The two-week percent positivity rate is just under 6 percent. The cumulative positivity rate is 15.4 percent.
