Students will be able to take in-person classes at Bucks this fall – with some precautions.

Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, college students have had to deal with a new reality with COVID-19.

So Bucks has taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of its students and staff this coming semester.

Lisa Angelo, provost for Bucks County Community College, has detailed what to expect when the school reopens fully for the fall semester.

“For faculty and staff, we’ve implemented a number of steps including physical barriers and social distancing,” said Angelo.

Due to the rising cases in Bucks County, Bucks officials have made the decision to mandate masking indoors for all visitors, employees, and students beginning Friday, Aug. 6.

According to CDC guidelines, Bucks County has been deemed an area of substantial spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant.  A substantial designation means the county has reached 50-99.99 new cases per 100,000 or positivity between 8-9.99 percent via Bucks County Community College.

Bucks is highly recommending, but not requiring vaccinations, especially since the delta variant has become the dominant strain of COVID -19.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said “Delta represents a threat to the entire country” according to WebMD.

In a press conference Walensky went on to say that “We are starting to see some new and concerning trends. Simply put, in areas of low vaccination coverage, cases and hospitalizations are up.”

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health, Bucks County, with a population of 628, 370, has 36,205 people partially vaccinated and 306, 225 fully vaccinated.

The college will also have a variety of options for students this fall and flexible learning options such as Face to Face, E-Learning, hybrid, mixed modality, synchronous (zoom), hyflex., depending on their personal preference.

Angelo said regarding in-person classrooms “The limitations for in-person classrooms are on the number of people in the class to allow for social distancing. Please know that we monitor the situation in our county and are ready to pivot if there is a change in CDC, BCDOH, PDE guidance or the environment in our county.  We want everyone to return to campus and do so safely.”

Is that enough with the more contagious delta variant?

The New York Times said, “The Delta variant is much more contagious, more likely to break through protections afforded by the vaccines and may cause more severe disease than all other known versions of the virus, according to an internal presentation circulated within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Besides having a variety of options for class this Fall Bucks is also having Athletics & student activities will resume in the fall semester.

Angelo indicated the following Athletic & student activities will resume:

•  Indoor and outdoor student activities like Welcome Week events, will be reinstated on each campus.
• Varsity and Club Sports will be offered at the Newtown Campus on the athletic fields and gymnasium.
• Intramural competitions among students will be offered at each campus.
• Student Organizations will have access to campus.  All student groups will be required to use a web meeting tool like Zoom to increase student access and student engagement.
• All programs, student groups, and activities will follow institutional health and safety guidelines.

The college will monitor the latest updates from the CDC and mitigate any potential spread of COVID-19 by routinely cleaning high traffic and surface areas to protect students and staff.

Bucks is back!