UNH spring semester to begin Monday with in-person learning

UNH police chief thinks the campus is safe

Receive coronavirus and public health news directly in your inbox every day.

The spring semester is scheduled to start on Monday at the University of New Hampshire. Students will arrive on Wednesday and will return to face-to-face learning.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees started autumn learning with face-to-face classes and switched to remote classes in November.

The start of this semester is one week later than originally planned, and there will be no spring break to limit contact opportunities.

The university has added more beds to its COVID-19 isolation dormitory; they said they can put COVID-19 positive people together. They also started a pilot program to allow a small number of students to participate in UNH hockey games through the lottery system.

The UNHCR police chief Paul Dean said: "I think it's safe to come back." "Since the fall, we have learned a lot, and we can make some of it work."

Dean participated in the university's COVID-19 response. He has investments both professionally and personally.

"I have two boys going to the University of New Hampshire, and one lives there. Dean said: "I will not take my children to unsafe places. "

He said that incoming students must show a negative PCR test on arrival and then be tested again on campus. According to Dean, the twice-weekly testing program is effective in the fall.

Dean said: "We firmly believe that testing twice a week is the right choice, and it turns out that it is the right choice."

In the fall, a large number of cases occurred after Halloween, and officials pointed out that parties outside the campus were the reason.

"The university and the town have worked together to form an external committee that has been working since the end of the school to provide more and better ways to solve these problems. I think we are in a better situation than in the fall." Dean said.

Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means that we may receive paid commissions for purchases through links to retailer websites.