The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / News / Classes in Teague, gyms help to accommodate CDC guidelines
Teague (Photo by Matthew Baker)

Classes in Teague, gyms help to accommodate CDC guidelines

September 7, 2020 by Alyssa High

ACU’s Campus Health and Safety Team’s plan for fall return keeps students in-person through non-traditional classrooms and extended passing periods.

The team started working in the spring with a subcommittee of academic members that included Dr. Jessica Smith, associate provost for curriculum and assessment, Dr. Bill Carroll, Chair of Faculty Senate and Lauren Wasson, former president of Student Government Association. The team looked at all classrooms to evaluate normal capacity and how each classroom could accommodate the social distancing rules set in place by the Campus Health and Safety Team.

In order to fit campus social distancing guidelines for classrooms, each room must accommodate students being six feet apart and faculty being 10 feet from the nearest student, “since the faculty would largely be facing the students and speaking over them,” Smith said.

After each room had an official capacity, Smith looked at the fall schedule and assigned each class a room based on the number of students in each class.

“We ran into a large challenge during larger classes while trying to make sure that we had adequate space for everyone, which led to untraditional spaces,” Smith said. “We are really grateful to be able to use those spaces and to the students and faculty who are making this work. Every time we have a class in an Hunter Welcome Center or in the gym that is a class that would have been online otherwise.”

The Campus Health and Safety Team also recommended longer passing periods to provide time to disinfect classrooms in between use, allowing disinfectant to sit for ten minutes of “dwell time,” as well as to provide students time to get to classes that are farther apart than usual.

“I take pride in being in nursing school and having my classes in the nursing building, so it’s frustrating that I can’t have most of my classes there,” Laura Loftus, junior nursing major from San Antonio, said after having classes in Teague Special Events Center rather than Zona Luce.”But I understand why, and I’m honestly just happy to be on campus.”

While some professors are choosing to have classes outside or in their homes, masks and social distancing are still recommended when possible.

Filed Under: News

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

About Alyssa High

-The Optimist Opinion Editor
-Creative Media Intern at Herald of Truth
-Enneagram 3w4
-Convergence Journalism major ‘21

You are here: Home / News / Classes in Teague, gyms help to accommodate CDC guidelines

Other News:

  • Provost adopts new policy for emeriti faculty

  • Demolition begins on Sherrod residential apartments

  • ACU Gives exceeds goal, raises over $919,000

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
26 Jun

The United Athletic Conference is officially taking the place of the Western Athletic Conference in the 2026-2027 athletic year. The UAC is a joint football effort between the WAC and the ASUN but will now extend to all sports. #acuoptimist #acuathletics #wac #uac

Reply on Twitter 1938240320854008109 Retweet on Twitter 1938240320854008109 2 Like on Twitter 1938240320854008109 7 Twitter 1938240320854008109
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved