Following a rise in COVID-19 positivity rate from 2.8% to 13.6%, UNC-Chapel Hill moved all undergraduate courses to entirely remote learning Wednesday, according to the Daily Tar Heel. 

The announcement by UNC-CH administration leaves many NC State undergraduate students wondering if and when they will hear the same and questioning whether campus should have opened to begin with.

Two clusters of COVID-19 infection have already been identified in NC State Greek Life housing this week.

According to a survey of 49 students conducted by Technician, 19 of the 39 students enrolled in at least one in-person class on campus for the fall semester do not feel safe attending class.  Through the survey, Technician received several written statements from students.

• “Students shouldn’t be back in Raleigh in the first place,” Sophie Ernest, a third-year studying political science, said. “We are going to have a huge mess in our hands in a few weeks.”

More than half of the students surveyed reported a preference for completely online instruction this semester, along with 16 students who preferred an online/in-person hybrid and seven students who preferred entirely in-person classes.

While the University announced all students would have an option to complete the semester completely online if desired during fall enrollment, 30 of the students surveyed said they have not been provided enough options for instruction format.

• Jan Fernandez-Castillo, a fourth-year studying aerospace engineering, said their MAE 480: Aerospace Engineering Senior Design professor was, at first, not accommodating to requests to complete the course online. “We were initially required to attend in-person classes, with the professor claiming it was university policy for [Senior Design] to be in person—it was not, as ISE, CSC and ECE are online—and said we’d have to postpone a year if we were uncomfortable,” Fernandez-Castillo said. “Only after sending many emails to the head of department and dean did he change his stance.”

Many students reported campus life, including housing, dining and common areas, to be of concern with regards to campus safety this semester. Only five of the students surveyed are living at home during the fall semester, with 26 in off-campus housing in Raleigh and 17 students living in on-campus housing.

• A third-year communication major who wished to remain anonymous said they quit their RA job due to lack of enforcement of safety measures, especially in dining halls, after students started moving on campus. “They are not providing a safe environment for the students and staff,” they said. “I don’t think campus should be open at all, and if they are going to, it should be much more limited than it is, and testing should be provided.”

• “Mask policies and social distancing should be strictly enforced,” Grace Quinn, a third-year studying anthropology, said. “A mandatory quarantine period before moving on campus/attending in-person classes should have been required to reduce the spread of COVID-19. I’m especially afraid because of the carelessness of Greek life [members], some of whom have already thrown parties.”

• “They should have canceled classes before the semester began,” one first-year architecture major who wished to remain anonymous said. “I feel cheated that I’m going to be paying full-price tuition when the University will probably cancel classes within a month or so.”