On Friday Sept. 11, Governor John Bel Edwards announced that the state of Louisiana would be moving into phase three of reopening the state.

Businesses like restaurants, churches, salons, spas, gyms and other establishments will now be allowed to open at 75 percent of occupancy with social distancing guidelines in place. The statewide mask mandate will also stay in place under phase three.

Nicholls Communications Director Jerad David said the administration has been very proactive in its efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, and the university will continue to look to the Centers for Disease and Control and Louisiana Department of Health for guidance on how to prevent the spread.

Even in phase three, students can expect the guidelines put in place for the fall semester to remain the same.

“The mask mandate and social distancing guidelines will remain through the rest of the fall semester, including in-person office hours. Our top priority is to keep everyone safe and healthy while disrupting day-to-day campus operation as little as possible,” David said.

The hope is to return to a more traditional schedule for the spring, but the university will be ready to make adjustments if cases start to increase.

“The schedule will actually look closer to a regular schedule of classes, and if the need for HyFlex is still present when the semester starts, those adjustments would be made just prior to the start of the semester,” David said.

If we are able to get back to a regular spring semester, David said immunocompromised students will have resources available to them such as the student access center to evaluate hyflex/virtual learning needs to keep them safe.

The state of Louisiana will remain in phase three until Oct. 9 and will move forward or backward depending on the number of cases in the state.