SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University is cutting back its previously announced face-to-face learning plans for the fall semester.

In an email sent to students Monday, university President Bill Behre wrote, “Now that the trajectory of the pandemic is becoming clearer and less promising, it has become evident that we must — in the interest of the health and safety of our entire university community — continue to shift more of our course offerings to a fully online format.”

He said Tuesday, “Ohio is one of our biggest states sending us students and Dr. (Anthony) Fauci (director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) said it is at risk for another large outbreak.”

Behre said he had hoped when the fall semester started to have the ratio of remote to in-person classes be split 50/50.

On Tuesday, he said he expected 80 percent of university classes to be remote and the remainder to be specialized clinical experiences, courses that require equipment only available on campus and courses that involve hands-on experiences, such as internships or dance classes.

At the same time, Behre said SRU was also reducing the number of students in its on-campus housing for the fall.

He said, “In the residences, there will be no doubles. Everyone will be in their own room. And we are going to have open spaces in case we have to do quarantining.”

Normally, 2,800 students live on campus. That number this fall is expected to be 1,600 and continue to drop as students make decisions about returning to school or taking classes remotely.

SRU has an undergraduate enrollment of 7,300 and 1,350 graduate students.

Behre said plans now call for the fall semester to start Aug. 27 and end at Thanksgiving to reduce the chances of students returning to campus with COVID-19.

As for the spring 2021 semester, Behre said, “We just don't know. We've contracted with Allegheny Health Network to advise us.”

Behre said tuition will not be reduced because most of the classes will be delivered remotely.

“Slippery Rock is a nonprofit state college and tuition and fees are linked directly to providing academic programs and services,” he said.

But he added the university is reducing its student activity, Smith Student Center and recreation fees by half for the fall semester.

Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo said Tuesday of the university's decision, “It's a shame. I feel awful for the students who are going to miss out on a genuine college experience.”

And he said the borough will be affected by a reduction in the 10,000 Slippery Rock students, faculty and staff.

“That's definitely a concern. But I am confident this is a tight-knit community that will give patronage to local businesses to get them through this,” said Longo.

Behre said students with questions should go to the SRU website and click on the COVID-19 Update box.

Jeff Smith, a member of the SRU Council of Trustees and its past chairman, said, “I don't think anybody is surprised at where we ended up.”