On Nov. 30, the Academic Affairs office sent out an email stating that Nicholls State University will remain as HyFlex for the spring 2021 semester. 

The email said students should check their schedules on banner to see any updated changes as to how their classes will work. 

Nicholls Communications Director Jerad David said the upcoming spring semester will look exactly like this past fall semester.  

“Knowing that there will likely be more spread during the holiday season, I think we saw the need to continue that same modality that we had in the fall,” David said.  

David also said the temperature check-ins and wristbands will be continued throughout the spring. David said as of now, campus dining will remain open as it did in the fall. He said it will only change depending on the phase the state is in. 

David also mentioned that once it gets closer to starting next semester, other places like the rec center should have more plans to announce as to how the semester will work, but for now things will stay the same. 

He said a big part of the decision to continue HyFlex was because of family and holiday gatherings. David said he expects to see a spike in cases around Christmas and New Years, which would be around the time students get ready to come back to campus. 

A few weeks ago, the university experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases, which David expects is from Halloween parties and off campus gatherings. 

On Nov. 13, the university sent out an email that stated Louisiana had experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases.  

That email also stated that Nicholls had experienced 18 more cases on campus. 

Regardless of the spike in cases on campus, David thinks that the people at Nicholls did a better job of keeping case numbers low compared to other states and universities. 

“I really really applaud our students, faculty and staff for being very diligent through the whole semester and for the most part doing the right things and being very mindful of when they were on campus of wearing their masks and staying distanced,” David said. “I think that helped keep our numbers down. Another thing that we’ve been applauded for is that we ended the semester before thanksgiving break.”

David said other schools are announcing that they are experiencing a rise in cases and that doesn’t count for Nicholls because the students here are done. 

As of now, the numbers on the dashboard consist of only one case being reported from Nov. 19 to Nov. 25. The total number of cases since the beginning of August is 154 cases. 

For more information on case numbers, visit the Nicholls State University website. More stories and updates on the spring semester will be announced soon.