photo by: Journal-World File

Students walk along Jayhawk Boulevard, donning masks, on the University of Kansas campus on Aug. 24, 2020.

University of Kansas students returned to classes on Monday following an unusually long winter break.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, KU’s spring break week was added onto the winter break, which occurred from Dec. 12 to Jan. 31. KU will not take a break in the middle of the semester. This was done to condense the academic year and limit the potential COVID-19 exposure of community members, KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said in an email to the Journal-World. The final day of spring semester will be May 14.

“Provost (Barbara) Bichelmeyer has guided instructors this semester to check in with students periodically to monitor their reaction to the course workload and adapt or provide a break from class if needed,” she wrote. “Likewise, students are encouraged to let their advisor or instructor know if they are struggling to keep up so they can work together on a strategy.”

As with the fall 2020 semester, KU will have a mix of in-person, remote and hybrid classes. Barcomb-Peterson was not able to provide what percentage of classes would be remote, hybrid or in-person, but said it would be similar to the fall.

In a welcome back message on Monday, Chancellor Douglas Girod wrote that the KU community must renew its commitment to safety “so we can have another successful semester.”

“Thanks to your commitment, since reopening campus last summer we have had no known cases of transmission within our classrooms and no county-declared outbreaks stemming from KU events,” Girod wrote.

Health and safety precautions on campus will look similar to the fall semester. Everyone on campus, including visitors, will again be required to wear masks, and social distancing will be observed.

KU once again required entry testing prior to the start of the semester. According to KU’s COVID-19 dashboard, between Jan. 18 and Jan. 31, 13,670 tests were taken by KU faculty, staff and students who work or study on the Lawrence campus. Of the 13,670 tests, 71 were positive, or .52%.

KU’s COVID-19 dashboard is updated on Tuesdays and Fridays.