{"id":1816,"date":"2021-04-26T17:09:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T22:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/?p=1816"},"modified":"2021-04-27T08:28:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:28:26","slug":"winona-state-university-forecasts-fall-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/blog\/2021\/04\/26\/winona-state-university-forecasts-fall-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"Winona State University forecasts fall semester"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Winona State University recently announced plans to hold a majority of classes in person for the fall 2021 semester.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dean of Students, Karen Johnson, explained the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe are hoping for 70 percent in-person classes. Which to me that just seems like a really nice mix because some students truly do like the online classes,\u201d Johnson said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Professor Andrea Gierok, instructor in the public health program, gave her thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 474px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1816-1\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/drewry-gierok-drone.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/drewry-gierok-drone.mp4\">https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/drewry-gierok-drone.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ken Janz, Winona State\u2019s chief information officer, dean of the library and associate vice president for academic affairs said Winona State consults many sources for guidance on COVID-19 policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOne of our biggest guides is from both MDH [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/schools\/ihe.html\">Minnesota Department of Health<\/a>], and the system office on where they feel we should be,\u201d Janz said. \u201cAnd we just try and make the best plan to create the balance, to create a safe environment, but a great learning environment. And those aren&#8217;t always compatible, but we try to make them as much as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Janz, along with a group of faculty and administration lead\u00a0 a committee named the COVID Classroom Instruction Action Option Group, responsible for making decisions that affected the future semester, including course offerings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Janz cited a variety of factors, including future social distancing guidelines being lowered to three feet and vaccine distribution as important to allow for fall classes in-person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIn the latest MDH guidance fall planning, you can do three-feet social distancing.\u201d Janz said. \u201cSo, you know what three-feet social distancing is? That&#8217;s almost a small classroom. It really is. Depending on the level of circulating virus, universal masking may still be required and depending on level and circulation of virus, assigned seating may be required.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1830\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1830\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1830\" src=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard-1024x744.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard-1024x744.png 1024w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard-768x558.png 768w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/WSU-campus-dashboard.png 1508w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1830\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Winona State COVID-19 dashboard visualizes reported data for the spread of COVID on campus during spring semester. Source: Winona.edu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gierok said the current regulations have allowed for certain spring classes to be conducted in person safely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think they&#8217;re doing it now safely in some classes. I think as long as we&#8217;re vigilant about lessening the risk,\u201d Gierok said. \u201cSo, you know, like I said, the distance, the masks, the cleaning of classrooms after students leave, all of the things they&#8217;re doing now, I think if they continue to do those things in the fall, I think the risk is pretty minimal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1827\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1827\" style=\"width: 474px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1827 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" srcset=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/DSC_86851-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cleaning supplies sit among records at KQAL 89.5, the school&#8217;s radio station. DJ&#8217;s are required to wipe down the studios touch points at the end of every shift.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gierok spoke highly of Winona State\u2019s compliance and attentiveness to guidelines but noted that risk still exists in returning to in-person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think Winona State has done everything they needed to get us safely back in the classrooms or as much as they can possibly do. They&#8217;re following CDC guidelines and they\u2019re following recommendations from the Department of Health and working with Winona county emergency management,\u201d Gierok said. \u201cSo, I feel safe going back into the classroom. But I don&#8217;t have any real health issues or pre-existing conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mackenzie Moroney, a graduate in nursing this fall semester, shared her opinion on the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI think that&#8217;s really exciting because I had like my first couple years in person and then last year was online, and I just loved the in-person,\u201d Moroney said. \u201cI felt like I was able to actually concentrate a little bit more and be able to really like retain the knowledge, especially being in nursing because in nursing it&#8217;s so hands-on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Johnson shared a similar excitement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1826 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1.png 1366w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Artboard-1-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ava Beal is a fourth-year student at Farmington High School attending Winona State in the fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beal said all of her classes for her upcoming first year will be in person, noting her distaste of virtual classes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI\u2019m not crazy about online classes,\u201d Beal said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Beal noted her excitement about having more freedom and concerns about staying motivated and accountable in the upcoming semester.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 474px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-1816-2\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/zoom_0.mp4?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/zoom_0.mp4\">https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/zoom_0.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Winona State University recently announced plans to hold a majority of classes in person for the fall 2021 semester. Dean of Students, Karen Johnson, explained the decision. \u201cWe are hoping for 70 percent in-person classes. Which to me that just seems like a really nice mix because some students truly do like the online classes,\u201d &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/blog\/2021\/04\/26\/winona-state-university-forecasts-fall-semester\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Winona State University forecasts fall semester<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":1823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/drewry-campus-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1816"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1837,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions\/1837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educate.winona.edu\/winona360\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}