NSU President's Report | 2020

When COVID-19 began its deadly scourge this past spring, universities and schools across the nation moved all in-class instruction fully online. NSU transitioned to virtual learning in just one week in order to keep students and faculty and staff members safe during the pandemic. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, staff members organized into task forces to proactively plan for a safe return to campus. The all-hands-on-deck approach allowed the university to develop a strategic plan within a few months. The first milestone reached was ramping up the university’s digital educational platform. The crowning achievement, however, was the introduction of a new BlendFlex learning model, which provides students and faculty members with a choice in how they learn and teach. As a result, the Return of the Sharks in fall 2020 featured face- to-face courses that adhere to face coverings and physical distancing policies, synchronous online instruction so that students are learning from the same professor at the same time, and fully online classes. Students can choose from one or a mix of options and change the format to 6 SHARK NATION CHANGES COURSE TO NAVIGATE NEWNORMAL