Author: Angela Nixon

Happy Solid Orange Friday!

Our second week of in-person instruction wraps up today, and we continue to be encouraged by our return to campus. Approximately 400 instructors offered in-person instruction this week, and that number will continue to grow as the semester progresses.

Our students continue to do a good job adhering to the health and safety protocols we have instituted. Still, as expected, we have seen an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases among our students with the return to on-campus living two weeks ago.

So far, however, the increase has been manageable, and we continue to have sufficient quarantine and isolation space. Our COVID-19 testing dashboard is now being updated twice a week, and the latest data can be found here. Also, please note that we have had no known hospitalizations related to COVID-19.

Football weekend brings excitement, another chance to shine

Our top-ranked Tigers football team returns to Death Valley tomorrow night against Virginia for our second home football game of the season. Our home opener was a success, both on the field and in terms of our ability to offer a safe, fan friendly experience thanks to the great work of our Athletics organization.

As we prepare to welcome approximately 19,000 fans to tomorrow’s game I wanted to take just a moment to remind all those planning to attend the game of the enhanced health precautions we have put into place for game days. And, to our students who will be tempted to gather with friends to watch the game on television, I ask that you all be mindful to wear face coverings and practice social distancing.

Research Spotlight: Building saliva-based COVID-19 testing capacity at Clemson

As we’ve learned, the ability to test large numbers of individuals for COVID-19 on a regular basis, and get results back promptly, is crucial to any successful strategy to track and mitigate the spread of the disease. Saliva-based testing, which is less invasive and far less expensive than the deep nasal swab testing, increasingly is being seen as an important testing tool.

Clemson’s work in this area has been led by one of our faculty stars, Dr. Delphine Dean in our bioengineering department. Dr. Dean, working with colleagues from the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina over the summer, has developed a highly accurate and inexpensive saliva-based COVID-19 test. The University also has set up its first high-complexity clinical testing lab to process the test results, with considerable assistance from another of our outstanding engineering faculty members, Dr. Mark Blenner.

The lab just completed its first week of operations and we are aiming to scale up capacity considerably over the next month. We expect this lab to contribute significantly to our testing efforts and hope we also eventually can help support community testing needs. This lab also will be a valuable research and training asset for the University and help us become even more competitive for research grants.

We continue to see increased activity across our locations and are starting to settle into a new routine that includes dealing with the realities of COVID-19 as part of our daily lives. The next week or two, however, will be especially important in our effort to keep the number of COVID-19 cases to a manageable level.

Still, the hard work of our staff and faculty over these past several months has positioned us to have a successful fall semester. I am deeply appreciative for everyone who has contributed to our COVID-19 response, including our students who have shown themselves to be highly responsible so far this semester.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

Today is the end of our first week of in-person instruction and on-campus activities for the fall semester. It was great to see our students back on campus and to know that they are getting back into the classroom as we had planned.

Nearly 200 faculty members delivered in-person instruction this week, and we expect that number to grow in the coming weeks – even as we continue to offer high-quality online components to all our classes.

Our faculty have shown amazing resiliency and creativity on behalf of our students, and I am so appreciative of the level of commitment and care they continue to exhibit.  Likewise, our staff – especially those responsible for keeping our facilities clean and safe – have done a tremendous job.

We also have enjoyed a return to athletic competition, including a perfect 3-0 start by our women’s soccer team and our first home football game last Saturday against The Citadel, with 18,000 enthusiastic – and socially distanced – fans in attendance. Our Athletics department did a superb job creating a safe experience for our fans, who did their part by responsibly cheering our Tigers to victory.

What we have seen this week – and throughout the pandemic – is truly the very best of the Clemson spirit. This week’s OUR Clemson employee newsletter nicely captures some of the highlights of the first days of in-person instruction.

Our Students Are Stepping Up

Perhaps the most gratifying sights this week have been those of our students going about their business on campus while adhering to the new rules and guidelines on face coverings and social distancing. The campus has truly come to life in the last week, and everywhere you go, our students can be seen wearing face coverings – often even while walking outdoors by themselves.

Much has been made about the behavior of college students across the country contributing to increased COVID-19 cases. Our students haven’t been perfect in this regard, but the vast majority have proven to be extremely responsible and have shown the kind of thoughtfulness and care that we attribute to members of the Clemson Family.

I’m extremely proud of our how students have adapted to these challenging circumstances. At the same time, I would urge all of them to not let down now. We’re off to a great start, and the longer we follow the important precautions we have instituted, the better our chances are of completing the semester together as we all hope.

Test Results 

Our COVID-19 testing dashboard has been expanded to provide more information consistent with our commitment to transparency. The latest update can be found here. We also began mandatory random surveillance testing of students this week and the early results have indicated only a modest increase in the percentage of individuals testing positive compared to the previous week.

The rate of positive tests among our students remains well below the state average, another sign that they are serious about doing what it takes to protect themselves and those around them.

Clemson Hosts Dr. Birx

I was delighted to spend much of today with Dr. Deborah Birx, Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, during her visit to our main campus. While here, Dr. Birx visited our student testing center, toured our Athletics facilities and met with University and student leadership. She also participated in a roundtable discussion with some of our outstanding faculty members to learn about their research related to COVID-19.

She had strong praise for all that we continue to do to deliver on our promise of providing a world-class education to our students, despite the unprecedented challenges we all are facing. I was extremely proud of our students, faculty and staff who represented Clemson in an outstanding manner.

Next week, will mark seven months since Clemson began working on its response to COVID-19 – before the first cases were even reported in the United States. So much has happened that it’s hard to believe it’s only been seven months, but as I watch our main campus and locations around the state move closer to something that looks like normal operations, I am deeply appreciative for all my teammates.

We have never wavered in our commitment to students and to our home state, and we’re committed to continuing to fulfill our mission of education, research and service. To all of you who have supported our work, thanks for doing your part to keep Clemson strong.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

The last group of our on-campus students are moving in today, and I’m pleased to share that the move-in process has gone extremely well, despite some early glitches in our dining services that we have addressed.

I’m excited to be getting back to some on-campus activities, including our first home football game tomorrow and the start of in-person instruction on Monday.

This next step in our fall semester would not have been possible without an enormous amount of work from our tremendous staff and faculty. I am proud of the effort they have made on behalf of our students and am very appreciative of their commitment.

Testing Update

As you know, we are in the process of testing all students for COVID-19 before we return to on-campus instruction next Monday, and so far the results have been encouraging. Of the more than 4,000 students tested from Sept. 11-13, the first three days of on-campus move-in, less than 1 percent of students tested positive. Those students are currently in our quarantine and isolation protocol.

Testing of off-campus students began in earnest on Monday and while higher rates of positivity are to be expected from this group, the initial results are also encouraging: Of the more than 8,000 results we have received from those students tested Monday-Wednesday of this week, only 3.5 percent were positive for COVID-19.

We still expect to see an increase in positive cases over the next couple of weeks as we ramp up activities on campus, but these initial results indicate that our students have taken seriously the calls to adhere to best practices around face coverings, social distancing and hand-washing. Now is not the time to get complacent, however. I encourage all our students and employees to continue to exercise responsible behaviors so that we can enjoy a successful semester.

Commencement Ceremonies set for November

I am pleased to share today that ceremonies for our May and August graduates have been rescheduled for Nov. 13-15 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville. We had hoped to hold ceremonies on campus at Memorial Stadium, but the move to November necessitated that we relocate to an indoor venue.

Specifics will be forthcoming soon, but we anticipate holding multiple ceremonies to account for proper distancing requirements. We have used this venue for commencement in the past when Littlejohn Coliseum was unavailable and the team at Bon Secours did an outstanding job. We’re excited to finally be able to honor our newest graduates in-person and we are already hard at work making it a memorable event. We also hope to have details about our December commencement soon.

Homecoming Canceled

We have made the difficult decision to cancel Homecoming activities originally scheduled for Oct. 23-24, including Tigerama and the annual Homecoming parade and float build. I realize that Homecoming is an exciting time for our students and alumni, and that it represents many of the best aspects of the Clemson experience.

However, our top priority remains completing a successful fall semester. As a result, some events and activities will continue to be held virtually or postponed due to significantly reduced capacities and physical distancing guidelines.

A Reminder: We’re All In This Together

This is a busy and exciting time for us. In addition to welcoming students back to campus, we are hosting our first home football game of the season tomorrow.

It feels great to be moving closer to the type of Clemson experience we all love, but we all need to continue to do our part to keep the campus safe. In fact, I shared that very message with our students and campus community yesterday in this short video.

As always, we couldn’t do our work without the continued support of all those who care so deeply about Clemson. We are grateful for all you do to help keep the University strong. And to our students – I can’t wait to see you on campus (wearing your masks, of course)!

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

What an exciting day to be a Clemson Tiger! Today, we began welcoming our on-campus students to Clemson in anticipation of our return to some in-person instruction on Sept. 21. Over the next several days, nearly 7,000 students will be moving into on-campus housing.

I am extremely excited to see students arriving and look forward to seeing them walking around our beautiful campus this fall. I am also very appreciative of everyone’s patience during this delay, and especially proud of the hard work from our faculty and staff.

As with many of the challenges we have faced during the pandemic, the decision to move ahead with a hybrid approach to in-person instruction was not easy. We have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases with the return of our off-campus students last month, and we should expect to see more cases over the next few weeks. I want to kindly ask each and every one of our students, faculty and staff to do all they can to minimize the spread of this virus.

Thankfully, our delayed return has provided valuable time for us to develop a more comprehensive testing plan as technology has advanced rapidly in the past month. We have also identified what we believe is ample quarantine and isolation space for those who become infected or exposed to COVID-19.  And, we are expanding our testing of wastewater streams around campus to detect the prevalence of the virus in our residence halls.

Importantly, we will not hesitate to change direction if circumstances warrant. I believe, however, we have the strategies and safety protocols in place to give us a good chance for success this fall.

COVID-19 Testing Strategy Finalized

Testing is a critical component of our plans to return to campus operations this fall. We plan to test all students before we resume in-person classes on Sept. 21 and then to conduct surveillance testing of students and employees throughout the remainder of the semester.

Starting today, we will begin testing students at Littlejohn Coliseum. From today through Sunday, testing will be limited to on-campus students who are scheduled to move into their residences on those days. No other students should schedule a test during this period.

Student testing will continue all next week for both on-campus and off-campus students. On-campus students should get tested on the day they are scheduled to move-in. No student can return to in-person instruction or on-campus activities without a negative test result secured during this period. Registration details are being sent to all students separately.

Once this baseline testing has been completed, we will begin testing approximately 5 percent of our students and employees each day in order to monitor the spread of the disease. Results are expected to be available within 48 hours of an individual receiving a test, and the University has a comprehensive tracing and notification plan.

Commencement Update

As you know, we postponed our May and August commencement ceremonies due to the pandemic and have planned to hold ceremonies during the fall semester. Unfortunately, our original plan to hold an event in Memorial Stadium in October had to be changed when the ACC scheduled a Clemson home football game for the same weekend.

We are now looking at possible dates and venues in November. We understand the uncertainty is frustrating to our graduates and their families, but know that we very much want to provide the experience they deserve and hope to have the details confirmed in the near future. We appreciate their patience while we work through this.

United As Tigers

Our successful return to in-person classes and on-campus activities is very much a shared responsibility. Our faculty and staff are doing everything they can to create a safe environment at our locations, but we need our students to do their part as well.

The next few weeks are especially critical. If we can minimize the spread of COVID-19 as we resume on-campus activities, we stand a good chance of being able to complete the semester in-person as we all hope.

The single most important element in that equation is the behavior of our students. We need you to take the rules on face coverings, social distancing, and washing your hands seriously — not only for yourselves, but for the sake of your faculty members, staff and the community.

For now our best hope to return to something close to a normal college experience is for everyone — students, faculty and staff — to follow the rules that have been put in place for everyone’s protection.

As always, I am deeply appreciative of the commitment and support we continue to receive from all corners of the Clemson Family. These are certainly trying times, but I remain confident that our university will emerge from the pandemic strong.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

One week from today, students will begin moving back to our main campus, and we are a little more than two weeks from the start of in-person classes and on-campus activities.

We are moving ahead as planned and are excited about having our students back, even during this challenging period.

We are currently finalizing plans to test all of our students — both before the start of in-person classes on Sept. 21 and throughout the fall semester.

On-campus residents still need to arrive on campus with a negative COVID-19 test result dated within 10 days of their arrival, and we will continue aggressive testing of off-campus students over the next two weeks — and all students throughout the semester. Details about locations and procedures for ongoing testing statewide will be shared with all students in the coming days.

As we move forward, we are keenly aware that we should prepare for an increase in COVID-19 cases among our students following our return to campus instruction and activities, as we have seen at other universities in recent weeks.

Delaying the start of in-person instruction until Sept. 21 provided the University valuable time to devise the necessary testing, contact tracing, quarantine/isolation and other protocols necessary to give us a good chance of success. It also has allowed us to learn from the experiences of peer institutions.

In order to help free up appropriate quarantine space it has become necessary to relocate a small number of students from their assigned on-campus residences to other locations on campus. Relocations will not involve first-year students, and we will be reaching out individually starting today to any affected students with details. All those who are affected will be notified with their options by end of the day Monday.

Once students return to our campuses, teaching will move to a hybrid model, with approximately two-thirds of our course sections containing an in-person component and all courses also being delivered online. Emphasis will be given to the needs of first-year students who will have a greater percentage of their courses delivered in-person. Students who wish to take all their courses online this semester can sign up here.

As I have said throughout the pandemic, the health and safety of our community is of paramount importance. We will not hesitate to adjust our mode of instruction again if the spread of the disease becomes such that it poses too great a threat to our students, employees or the community at large.

Widespread testing is a powerful tool in our effort to offer a residential educational experience, but testing alone won’t ensure our success. Remaining on campus for the remainder of the semester will require strong adherence to the safety protocols that have been developed and clearly communicated.

Each and every one of us owes it to our community to act selflessly in a manner that minimizes the risk of spreading the disease. Our expectations for students in this regard have been clearly spelled out in our Student Code of Conduct, and we are prepared to address flagrant violations of social distancing, gatherings and face-covering policies.

The past six months have been extremely challenging as we have worked to maintain a robust Clemson experience for our students in a safe manner, and I am deeply grateful to all our employees for their commitment, passion and love of this institution.

I also am appreciative of the patience that our students and their families have shown as we have worked through the thousands of details necessary to bring us all back to campus.

We will continue to communicate as we have further updates. In the meantime, I am excited to share the news that our COVID-19 resources web site has been significantly enhanced. I encourage you to visit the site for the latest information or send your questions to covidquestions@clemson.edu.

I wish you all a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend, and I especially urge our students to continue their responsible behavior. I can’t wait to see all of our students very soon.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

Today we completed our first full week of classes for the semester, and it has been amazing to hear about some of the ways our faculty is using technology to connect to our students.

I’m hearing that students are using the collaborative tools associated with Zoom to help one another with questions during class sessions, adding a layer of interactivity that we don’t always see in a traditional classroom setting. Also, one of our biology professors is holding discussions with her students on how to best engage online, which led to a student effort to create a music play list to welcome students as class is getting started each session.

These are just a couple of the many examples of great work being done by our faculty and students to make the most of a challenging situation. At the same time, we know that everyone is excited to get back in the classroom and on campus – and I can’t wait to welcome students back to campus beginning Sept. 11, and to the first day of in-person instruction on Sept. 21.

Our enrollment continues to hold steady, and we are projecting that on-campus residence halls will be nearly full. The enormous amount of work our faculty and staff have done over the past months to prepare for this semester allowed us to start the semester on time. I am extremely thankful for their great effort.

Difficult, but Necessary, Cost Reductions Announced

I remain confident that Clemson will emerge from the pandemic strong, but this unprecedented situation continues to take a financial toll on our university – and all of higher education. Our current projections place the economic impact of the pandemic on Clemson at between $120 and $180 million for the current fiscal year.

Because of that, the University took the step this week of announcing a combination of furloughs and voluntary pay cuts that will save the university the equivalent of 150 median-level positions. A guiding principle in our decision was to insulate our lower-paid employees, and more than half our workforce will see no impact from these reductions.

The furloughs are designed so that the more one earns, the more days he or she is furloughed – up to a maximum of 12 days over the next four months. In addition, nearly 90 employees in Athletics who are under contract and exempt from the furlough program took comparable voluntary pay cuts, with all those earning more than $400,000 taking at least a 10 percent reduction. I also took a voluntary 10 percent pay reduction.

Updated COVID-19 Testing Policies for Students

Broad testing of our student population remains an important piece of our plans for a safe return, and our strategy continues to evolve as testing technology improves. Students who are living on campus this fall or who will be taking classes in-person must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test (either nasopharyngeal or saliva) within 10 days of their return to campus or have proof of a positive antibody test from within the last 40 days in order to move in.

We also have begun to offer free testing to off-campus students in order to get a baseline for the prevalence of the virus in our community. Our goal is to conduct several thousand COVID-19 tests a week before and during the semester.

Clemson Ring Order Deadline Extended

The Clemson Ring is a symbol of the bond among the Clemson Family and celebrates the accomplishments of all who have graduated from Clemson University. Students who have completed 90 or more credit hours can purchase their Clemson Ring and join the tradition, which began with our first graduating class in 1896.

The Clemson Alumni Association has extended the deadline and students can still purchase their Clemson Ring through this Sunday at midnight. Rings can be ordered here.

Students Stepping Up

A number of major universities have moved to completely online instruction for the fall in the past two weeks after reporting spikes in COVID-19 cases at the start of their fall semesters. In many cases, the increases in positive COVID cases were traced to groups of students who weren’t following recommended safety protocols.

Our students began arriving in the area early this month, and I’m happy to report that so far we have had few reports of students gathering in large groups.

Now is not the time to let our guard down, however. We must all continue to be vigilant in our approach to preventing spread of the virus – especially our students who are naturally inclined to gather with their friends in groups.

Our Commitment

As I have said before, we find ourselves in uncharted waters as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. There are no easy answers, only difficult decisions, but I am more convinced than ever that our team is doing everything it can to deliver on our promise to students and to our state.

Our guiding principles haven’t changed. We remain steadfastly focused on providing a true Clemson experience to our students in a manner that safeguards the health of the entire Clemson community to the greatest extent possible.

I am excited to see our students on campus next month, and am very proud of the care and commitment shown by our employees in order to make that possible. Thanks, as always, to all those working to make Clemson University better every day and to those who support our work.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

The new academic year is off to a good start, although it is unlike anything we have previously experienced in higher education.  I want to, once again, welcome our new students to the Clemson Family and welcome back our returning students.

Over the past few months, the University has invested significantly in technology and faculty training so that we can provide an outstanding online experience until our students return to the campus. And, as you know, we plan to bring students back to campus shortly after Labor Day.

Our careful approach to the start of the academic year gives us the best chance of success this semester and we continue to make progress on a number of fronts. Here are some updates since my most recent communication.

Move-in Dates Set

We will begin welcoming students back to campus on Sept. 11 with all move-ins expected to be completed by Sept. 18 – in time for the first day of in-person instruction on Sept. 21. We appreciate the patience you have shown throughout this process.

The demand for our residence halls remains strong and Clemson’s Housing and Dining team has done an outstanding job creating a safe environment and in communicating with our  students. Additionally, we have instructed faculty to provide additional flexibility related to assignments and tests to on-campus residents during move-in week.

Testing Transparency

I’m pleased to share that we launched an improved testing dashboard. The dashboard, which can be found here, provides information related to the number of COVID-19 tests that have been taken by employees and students. That information will be updated every Friday.

May and August Commencement

In my message two weeks ago, I shared the news that our plans for commencement ceremonies in early October to celebrate our May and August graduates had to be changed due to a modification in the football schedule that was beyond our control. I believe that it is important to offer these special groups of graduates the opportunity to be recognized in person, and we are getting close to finalizing new plans for commencement later this fall.  We will communicate those revised plans soon.

We’re All in this Together

Our students will play a critically important role in our ability to have a successful, in-person, experience this academic year. The University is doing everything in its power to create a safe environment under very challenging circumstances, but ensuring our success is going to be a shared responsibility on the part of everyone.

I want to thank our student government leadership for spearheading an effort to get students to sign onto a voluntary pledge to do their part to help keep the community healthy. We all know, however, that a part of college life takes place off campus, where approximately two-thirds of our students live and where the temptation to let your guard down is the greatest. I ask our students to exercise good judgment at all times, whether on campus or in the community, and to do their part to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Clemson employees are doing their part as well.  And, I am incredibly proud of the work that our faculty and staff have done and continue to do to safely prepare for this academic year.

We all want the same thing – a safe and successful academic year with on-campus instruction and activities – and I am convinced that we can get there if we remain united as Tigers.

Go Tigers!

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the start of an academic year unlike any I have experienced in my 32 years in higher education. As we begin classes today I want you to know how incredibly proud I am of the work that everyone has done over the past several months to prepare us for this moment.

I have no doubt we will deliver on our promise to provide the best possible education for our students and will continue to provide significant value to our state through research and service. Our students are fortunate to have such a talented and caring team to help guide them through their Clemson experience.

I believe our decision to open online with a mid-September return to campus instruction and activities gives us the best chance of success this fall, and I am excited about seeing our students back on campus later this semester.

As we start this semester, I want you to know that we are doing everything possible to reintroduce on-campus living and learning in a manner that is safe for our entire community. Your flexibility and patience as we work through all the details necessary to be successful in this unique environment are truly appreciated.

I hope everyone has a great first week of classes, and thanks again for your tireless efforts on behalf of our students.

Go Tigers!

Jim

Dear Clemson Family:

I am excited that we begin the fall semester next week. I miss seeing the incredible energy our students bring to the campus and can’t wait until they are back.

As you know, the first few weeks of the semester will be done online.  While this is not the way any of us wanted to start this academic year, I am extremely excited that students will be back on our campuses in full force shortly after Labor Day.

Our amazing faculty and staff have worked incredibly hard to create the conditions for a successful academic year, even as we continue to navigate the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. I am very proud of them for all their efforts.

At a time when many universities have decided to go completely online for the fall, I want to reaffirm to our students and their families that our focus on returning to in-person instruction and activities has never wavered. In fact, our decision to delay the start of in-person classes and on-campus activities by a few weeks has allowed us to further strengthen our return plans, and has put us in even better shape for a successful fall semester.

Testing Strategy

We continue to finalize a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy designed to minimize the number of cases at our locations and allow us to closely monitor the spread of the virus throughout the semester.

The early results from our COVID-19 testing have been encouraging: Over the past two weeks, we have received results from more than 1,100 employee and students and only seven people tested positive. The cumulative results of our testing can be found on our COVID-19 web site, which will be updated regularly.

We realize that testing, specifically the ability for our on-campus students to get a negative test result in timely fashion before moving onto campus, is a concern for some.  We are closely monitoring advances in testing and our plans may evolve. If so, we will communicate any changes as soon as they are made.

Collegiate Sports

Adding to my excitement is the fact that the ACC is on course to compete in football and other sports this fall. I have been heavily involved in the discussions among ACC presidents to ensure that we can play football and other sports safely, and we continue to follow the guidance of the conference’s medical advisory group. As result of the great work being done by universities across the conference related to testing and safety protocols, your No.1-ranked Tigers are prepared to start their season at Wake Forest on Sept. 12.

Campus Housing

Another date that I have circled on my calendar is Sept. 12 – the date our students can begin moving into the residence halls. Creating a strong and supportive on-campus environment is a critical part of the residential university experience, and our Clemson Housing team is busy preparing our residence halls to operate at nearly full capacity. Answers to all your housing and dining questions can be found here.

This academic year is certainly going to look and feel a bit different than past years, but I am confident that we are poised to make it another great year for our students. At the same time, I continue to ask all of our students to do their part by wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing whenever possible. Remember, we’re all in this together. We need to remain “United as Tigers.”

Good luck to all of our students, faculty and staff as we start the semester next week, and stay tuned for regular communications from me and other University leaders as the new year begins. I am excited to see you all in a few weeks.

Go Tigers!

Dear Clemson Family:

The calendar has turned to August, and the entire university is pushing full-steam ahead for the start of the fall semester in less than two weeks. As you know, we are beginning the semester online, and we are fully committed to bringing our students back to our campuses starting Sept. 13 and resuming in-person instruction on Sept. 21.

Toward that end, we continue to make great progress on a number of fronts in preparation for welcoming our students back to all of our locations in a safe and responsible manner. I’d like to highlight just some of the important work and decisions that have been made since my last message.

COVID-19 Testing Strategy

Minimizing the number COVID-19 cases among our students and employees as they return to our campuses in large numbers is critical to successful in-person instruction and activities. To that end, we are testing people before they come to campus, and then we will continue testing students and employees throughout the academic year to monitor the prevalence of the disease.

While most of our employees continue to work remotely, we anticipate bringing many of them back to our campuses and facilities between now and mid-September. Every Clemson employee and contractor must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test, or a positive COVID-19 antibody test, before returning to a Clemson location.

Additionally, all of our students who live or work on campus must provide a negative COVID-19 test within five days of returning to campus. Details on the types of tests that we will accept and how to share test results with the University have been provided to students.

Students who don’t live on campus and are not employed at the University will not be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to the beginning of on-campus instruction. The University also plans to test several hundred students a week starting Aug. 17 in order to provide a baseline for the prevalence of the disease in our area.

Testing, like many aspects of our work related to the pandemic, is enormously complex. We have relied heavily on the counsel of nationally recognized public health experts to provide the level of information we need to make educated decisions around the fall semester. These decisions are based on data and science. We are prepared to adjust our testing approach if warranted by new scientific advances.

Classroom Preparations

This upcoming academic year will be unlike anything I have experienced in my 32 years in higher education. Once we return to in-person instruction, classes will be delivered in a “hybrid” mode that will combine face-to-face and online instruction.

Fortunately, our outstanding faculty is up to this immense challenge. We used our experience from the spring to build a foundation for effective online course delivery and have used the past four months to upgrade our technology and provide faculty the necessary training and support so that we can deliver a robust, high-quality educational experience starting on the first day of classes.

Not only have we equipped more than 400 classroom spaces with state-of-the-art video and audio equipment that will allow us to live stream and record classroom lectures, we have reconfigured physical spaces across the campus to ensure the necessary physical distancing. In some cases, we have transformed non-traditional spaces into classroom space.

Knowing that first-time freshmen need substantial guidance at the beginning of their college experience, we are adding significantly more one-to-one advising, counseling and student-to-student communications before and during the first weeks of the semester.  Once in-person classes start on Sept.21, freshmen will have priority to be in face-to-face classes.

Outreach to Incoming Students

We realize the current situation has been especially hard on our incoming students and their families, and that the delayed start of in-person instruction has left many feeling anxious. To help ease that stress and reinforce our excitement toward the newest group of Tigers our Admissions, Student Affairs and University Relations teams have been working hard to engage our new students.

They have created and begun to distribute a wide range of virtual content aimed at providing our newest Tigers an introduction to the community, academics, organizations, activities and most importantly, each other.

Rebates on Fees

As result of the delayed start to in-person instruction, the University has credited a number of student fees, including housing, dining and the student activity fee to reflect the reduced amount of time they will be on campus this fall.

No adjustments have been made to tuition rates, which were previously frozen at last year’s levels. We have invested heavily in our online capabilities in recent months and are confident we can provide a high-quality learning experience from the first day of the fall semester.

Football Schedule

As many of our great Tigers fans probably already know, the ACC made the decision two weeks ago to create a 10-game conference football schedule with room for an additional non-conference game. Unfortunately, the SEC’s schedule for this year doesn’t provide the opportunity for the annual Clemson-South Carolina game to be played.

While we’re all deeply disappointed the Palmetto Bowl won’t be played for the first time in more than a century, I can’t wait for our season opener on Sept. 12 at Wake Forest and our first home game on Sept. 19. Details on seating capacity for home games and the game-day experience will be shared in the coming weeks.

All other fall sports schedules will be released soon.

Congratulations to our August Graduates and Commencement Ceremony Update

Under normal circumstances, I would have spent part of today shaking the hands of more than 1,000 August graduates. Commencement days are among my absolute favorite times of each academic year, and I can’t wait until we can get back to celebrating in person. To help celebrate our August graduates, we have created a special Class of 2020 web site that I encourage you to visit.

I couldn’t be prouder of our graduates who have completed their work in the middle of this pandemic and we remain committed to an on-campus celebration for our May and August grads later this fall.

Unfortunately, our original plans to hold a celebration in Memorial Stadium the weekend of Oct. 9-11 now needs to change as result of the revised ACC football schedule, which has us playing a home game that weekend. We just learned of this change yesterday and we are already exploring alternate dates for commencement. I expect a decision to be announced in the next week.

Healthy Clemson – United as Tigers

As I have said from the earliest days of the pandemic, the health and safety of our students, employees and communities is paramount. Every decision we have made – and will continue to make – is grounded in the knowledge that we have a responsibility to educate our students, but that we need to do so in the safest manner possible.

While the University will continue to do its part to protect the health of the Clemson Family, our ability to return to on-campus instruction truly is a shared responsibility. I strongly encourage everyone in the University community to do their part to keep themselves and those around them safe.

Wear a mask. Wash your hands frequently. Practice social distancing. Stay home if you’re sick. These simple actions can make all the difference.

As part of our work in this area, our University Relations team has created a broad awareness campaign under the banner of Healthy Clemson – United as Tigers, including a message from me, which I invite you to watch here.

I know that because we are United as Tigers we will get through this together and we will come out of the pandemic strong.

Congratulations again to our outstanding August graduates and my continued thanks to our world-class faculty and staff for all their hard work. I can’t wait to see everyone in a few weeks.

Go Tigers!