New Coronavirus Policies Cause Sweeping Changes at Princeton U.
Late Sunday night, Princeton University mistakenly published, then retracted, detailed plans to move all classes online after Mar. 23, in tandem with “social distancing” policies and recommendations for students to stay home after spring break. This morning, nine hours later, University president Christopher Eisgruber sent a letter to the Princeton community, confirming many of the leaked plans. The official letter, which caught most students and faculty off guard, was followed by more detailed guidance that arrived in several installments throughout the day. The new policies—which limit campus events and prohibit all University-sponsored international travel, among other decisions—will be reassessed on Apr. 5. “Though we recognize that a personal, ‘high touch’ educational environment is one of Princeton's great strengths, we also recognize that these are extraordinary times that require exceptional measures to deal with a health risk that affects us all,” wrote Eisgruber in his Mar. 9 announcement. In response, students, faculty and staff have been grappling with the sweeping changes that will affect nearly every corner of campus life. 
How have classes been affected?
Many existing classes that had scheduled spring break trips as part of their syllabi—such as a freshman seminar slated to travel to London, a journalism class set to go to Budapest, and an art history class planning to visit Sicily—have now cancelled their trips in accordance with University policy. “I’m a Slavic major, I love politics, I love journalism—the Hungary trip was supposed to be the icing on the cake,” said Jack Allen ‘21, who was supposed to travel to Hungary over spring break with a journalism class. “Princeton is about having these cool experiences. But I understand why we had to [cancel it]. I’m not as mad as I would’ve been if we had to cancel it for a normal reason; this is an exceptional circumstance.” Professors and educators, with the assistance of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, are preparing to move seminars, lectures and precepts online. Guidance on McGraw’s website encouraged professors to “review and adjust course policies as needed,” including modifying participation and other in-class activities—which make up as much as 30% of students’ final grade in some courses. Professors were asked to be flexible with students who may have unstable internet access off-campus. McGraw recommends using the online video conferencing app Zoom for classes ranging from small seminars to large lectures. Classes that involve experimental lab work are recommended to use online simulations or to change lab activities to focus on data analysis over data collection.Some professors began experimenting with the new online method on Monday, with varied success. “For one of my classes, the plan for the class was for all of us to be there in person and experiment with broadcasting the lecture online,” said Alex Kaplan ’21. But [my professor] couldn’t figure out the cameras for Zoom in the conference room so he just taught as he normally would.”Various in-class midterms in the history and computer science departments have been changed to take-home examinations to avoid putting students in close proximity to one another. Meanwhile, principal investigators and directors of laboratory facilities were asked to develop contingency plans for their own labs.
Travel plans and travel bans
All University-sponsored international travel has been prohibited until further notice, with all personal travel being “strongly discouraged” by the University. These travel restrictions, like the social distancing policies, are in place until at least Apr. 5. For many students studying abroad in the spring semester, the sudden changes are not new. Programs based in high-risk countries such as China and Italy were cancelled in February, with many students returning to the United States and taking online classes to fulfill their course requirements. Joining in the disappointment are students who had planned on taking classes or participating in international programs over the summer. Princeton in Beijing—a summer Chinese language course based in Beijing which attracts hundreds of applicants per year—will be relocated to another site in New Jersey during the summer of 2020, and all internships based in China and Italy run through the International Internship Program, as of Mar. 2, have officially been cancelled. Students who were expected to receive Princeton funding to intern abroad have been told by the Office of International Programs to hold off on purchasing flight tickets and accommodations until Apr. 1. The timing of new restrictions puts many students in a frustrating bind since many internship application deadlines have passed.Diana Zhang ‘22 had planned on participating in a summer internship based in Shanghai, China, through the Princeton Startup Immersion Program (PSIP). Now that the program has been cancelled, she is “uneasy” about her summer plans, and hopes to find an internship in the United States. Because her parents currently live in Guangzhou, China, she is unsure if she will be able to return home.Similar frustrations are shared by international students who wonder if they will be able to go home—without a guarantee of being able to return to campus—given the travel restrictions that have been put into place. Currently, foreign nationals arriving in the United States from China are barred entry.Jinn Park ‘21 from Seoul, South Korea, is scared less of the coronavirus than of “the logistical complexities” that come with it. “There’s nothing under my control,” she acknowledged. “All I can do is pray for my parents, for the campus and the countries that are suffering.”
Impacts on student life
Outside the classroom, everyday parts of campus life are experiencing similar uncertainty.Affected activities include several language tables in the dining halls, where students gather to practice language skills over meals, and the student-run Coffee Club, which is closed until further notice. “While we’re saddened by the decision to close the Coffee Club, we hope that this can help our community stay safe,” said Alex Kaplan ‘21, founder and former director of Coffee Club. “Of course it’ll have an emotional impact on the many people who work here and come through, but there are much bigger factors at play.”Plays and dance shows scheduled to occur during the two-week virtual period have also been cancelled. Meanwhile, varsity athletic practice ran as scheduled on Monday. Athletic events are planned to continue, with attendance restricted to a third of the venue’s total capacity.For international student employees and students on federal work-study, the sudden changes in policy regarding campus employment leave them in a difficult financial and logistical situation.Students with on-campus jobs “should not be compelled to return to campus for the purpose of maintaining campus employment,” according to an email from the University’s Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid. The student employees can use sick time compensation, which they earn one hour of for every 30 hours worked, to offset the hours missed during the two week period after spring break.“[Student] workers have voiced concerns that the financial cost of transport and lost earnings, combined with the uncertainty of the duration of measures, makes it very difficult for them to leave campus,” said Masi Nagdee ‘22, the student coordinator for the Butler-Wilson dining hall.The email added that “the University does not provide vacation, holiday, or compelling reason pay for student employees.”“Does that mean that I have to bring all my textbooks home?” said Annie Phun ’23, a first-generation, low-income (FLI) student from San Gabriel, California who plans on flying back home over spring break. “I don’t have enough money to do that.”This is a developing story that the University Press Club is following closely. Stay tuned for updates, and follow our liveblog coverage here.Sophia Cai ‘21, Jimin Kang ‘21, Vignesh Panchanatham ‘22, Yu Jeong Lee ‘22 contributed to the reporting of this piece.