Fall 2020 Plan Includes Online, Distance and Hybrid Learning Formats

Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University released on Monday the fall 2020 campus reopening plan, which details a three-phased blueprint for the semester.

"WNMU, like institutions throughout the nation, has had limited on-campus operations since March. During this time, we have been diligently preparing for the return of life on our campus," said Dr. Joseph Shepard, who is President of WNMU and who guided other university leaders in developing a strategy that considers the health of the Mustang community, the instructional needs of students and the operational needs of the institution.

WNMU will be reopening in three phases that will include online, distance and hybrid learning formats. Phase I will run from August 17 through September 7 and will be 100% online. Phase II will follow the Labor Day holiday when some classes may resume in hybrid formats that include face-to-face and hands-on activities. Phase III is scheduled to begin on November 30 when WNMU courses will again move to a 100% online format and when students will not be required to return to campus after Thanksgiving break.

Available online at wnmu.edu/fall-reopening-plan, the 2020 Return to Campus plan will continually be updated as conditions evolve.

"We will let the facts and science guide us more than rhetoric, emotions or politics. Above all, we will keep students, faculty and staff safety as our primary objective and focus," Dr. Shepard said.

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For 125 years, Western New Mexico University has served the people in its region as a comprehensive, rural, public body. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution and the state's only public Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences university, WNMU is committed to developing cross-cultural opportunities that encourage people to explore new experiences. The WNMU student body represents every segment of southwest New Mexico's diverse population.