Office of the Chancellor

Purdue Fort Wayne Will Maintain Current Operations for Spring Semester

November 2, 2020

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

As the end of the fall semester draws near and final exams are on the horizon, I’m pleased to announce that, in consultation with senior administrators, faculty leaders, and students, we have decided that the university will continue to maintain current operations and instructional modalities through the spring 2021 semester.

This includes offering primarily in-person instruction with some classes being offered in hybrid or online formats. Based on our experiences this fall semester, we are confident in the approach we are taking.

We will also observe our normal academic calendar for the spring 2021 semester as follows:

January 11: Classes Begin

March 8–14: Spring Break

Week of May 3: Final Exams

Priority registration for spring is already open. Students are encouraged to enroll during their applicable enrollment period by logging in to goPFW.

Our goal in maintaining current operations for spring is to create as little disruption as possible for current students and to offer a traditional college experience to students who are joining us for the first time. We want all of our students to have access to a high-quality education, and we are committed to ensuring a campus environment that puts their health, safety, and well-being first and foremost.

Please be assured that the health and safety of our entire university community—students, faculty, and staff—is our top priority. We continue to follow best practices and recommended protocols from the CDC, Indiana Department of Health, and other public health officials. We also continue to rely on the significant expertise of our senior leaders and colleagues, the PFW Prepared Committee, and the Purdue University system.

Central to our safety measures is the university’s strict adherence to requiring face masks and social distancing. We continue to require face masks to be worn by everyone on campus, in every building, until further notice. As a good practice, a face mask should be worn in other high-density locations, such as in gatherings outside or while transitioning in crowds to other buildings on campus. We have distributed more than 20,000 cloth masks free of charge this fall for students, faculty, and staff. More will be available for the spring semester.

In order to provide intensive focus on students and the academic mission, external rentals and large-scale community events on campus continue to be canceled or postponed through May 31. Visitors will be allowed on campus on a limited basis for meetings and gatherings not to exceed 25 people and subject to enhanced health, safety, and contact-tracing protocols. Student Affairs events and programming for students are exempt from this limitation on participants and will continue to proceed with enhanced health and safety protocols. Athletics competitions and activities continue to be guided by NCAA and Horizon League directives and protocols and will take place without fans in the stands.

Our PFW Prepared website has complete details regarding all aspects of the university’s operations and protocols. We also will continue to provide updated information through the PFW Prepared Update newsletter. Information will be distributed through the university’s internal newsletters—Inside PFW and Don Life—as well as through social media channels and messages like this one.

I want to extend my thanks to all of you who have worked so hard this fall to keep our university functioning so efficiently and so safely, despite the challenges. Let’s continue to maintain our focus and vigilance as we finish up the fall semester and look forward to a well-deserved holiday season and winter break.

Sincerely,

Ron Elsenbaumer
Chancellor