Return to campus on August 30, 2021
Dear Members of our LAU Community,
Many of you have reached out in the past few days to inquire about our previously announced plans to open the campus, on August 30, with in-person learning mode, following our successful and ongoing Covid-19 vaccination campaign. For sure the past few weeks have been particularly challenging for all of us with severe and dire scarcities in all basic needs.
The recent weeks have compelled us to reexamine constantly and very carefully the abilities of our students, faculty and staff to come to campus, and to commute from their homes. We also reconsidered alternatives, and given the electricity shortages at homes, we concluded that switching to an online mode was not the best sustainable solution.
We come together back to campus starting August 30:
- To learn, because learning and education are our hope for a better future and to transform our lives, and our country.
- To demonstrate our resourceful ability to find increasingly collective solutions and solidarity in transportation and housing.
- Because your university will be the oasis for living and learning, discoveries and creativity.
- So that our youth stays anchored in Lebanon and does not get uprooted from their friends, family, and culture.
The President Cabinet and the Council of Deans have met jointly this past Tuesday to affirm our determination to return to campus, and have shared their plan and practical steps including the following:
- Fall 2021 classes will begin on August 30, 2021 in person, following a 4-day week schedule. In other words, except for the few courses designated as “online,” TTh classes will meet in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and MWF classes will meet in person on Mondays and Wednesdays while the Friday sessions will be held online.
- Classes meeting only on Fridays (once a week only) will be held in person every other week; the classes will be held online during the first week of classes, on Friday, September 3, 2021.
- The campus including the library and other student services will be made available to students in Fall 2021.
- For all courses (when applicable), at least one midterm and final exams will be administered in person in Fall 2021.
- Due to the instability of internet connections and electricity in the country, faculty should record all online course components and make them available to students.
- Students not able to be present on campus for the first two weeks, shall contact their individual instructors for the missed material.
We’re all looking forward to seeing you starting this Monday August 30, 2021, our convocation to come together in solidarity, defiance and commitment.
Michel E. Mawad, M.D.
President