The 23-campus California State University system plans to all but cancel in-person classes in the fall and instead will offer instruction primarily online, Chancellor Timothy White announced Tuesday.

The vast majority of classes across the Cal State system will be taught online, White said, with some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. The decision comes as schools throughout the country grapple with how long to keep campuses closed amid the coronavirus crisis.

Our university when open without restrictions and fully in person is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity, White said at a meeting of Cal States Board of Trustees. That approach sadly just isnt in the cards now.

Whites announcement came the same day that infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, told a Senate panel it would be a bridge too far to think treatments or vaccines could be available in time to facilitate students reentry into schools this fall.

It also follows an earlier move by Cal State Fullerton, which in late April became one of the first universities in the nation to announce it was planning for remote instruction this fall.

White said that for the small number of classes where in-person instruction is indispensable and can be justified such as clinical nursing courses, biology labs or merchant marine training sufficient resources and protocols will have to be in place to ensure the health and safety of students and teachers.

The enrollment per section will be less; for instruction and research laboratories the distance between participants greater; the need for personal protective equipment appropriate to the circumstance prevalent; and the need to sanitize and disinfect spaces and equipment between users essential, White said.

On some campuses and within some departments, course offerings will be exclusively virtual.

White said planning for an online fall term was necessary because of the forecast of additional waves of COVID-19 outbreaks later this year, possibly coupled with a difficult flu season. He said it would be irresponsible to wait until August to make a decision only to scramble and not be prepared to provide a robust learning and support environment.

He also acknowledged that the university system currently lacks the resources to provide coronavirus testing for everybody and trace the contacts of infected people should there be an outbreak on a campus.

CSU students and families, along with faculty and staff, can expect to receive more information this month from their respective campuses about instruction in the fall.

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Coronavirus: CSU to have mainly online classes in fall 2020 - Los Angeles Times