To the University community,

As we approach the midpoint of the Fall 2020 semester, I appreciate the continued attention and adherence by faculty, staff and students to our health protocols, especially our policy requiring the wearing of face masks in campus buildings. It is important that we remain vigilant in our efforts to operate the campus safely during this ongoing global pandemic.

The spread of COVID-19 during the past several months unfortunately compelled us to cancel our spring and summer commencement ceremonies. I believe that our graduation exercises are the most important event on campus. All of us at the university recognize the significance and importance of a formal graduation ceremony to our students and their families.  To that end, I am pleased to announce that I have authorized the University to schedule in-person commencement ceremonies at Floyd Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 21, for our December 2020 graduates. Our May 2020 and August 2020 graduates will also be invited to participate.  

To help assure the safety of all in attendance, we’ve decided to hold these ceremonies outside, based upon recommendations from federal and state health officials that encourage exterior spaces to be utilized for such public events in order to deter the spread of COVID-19. Masks and social distancing will be required and strictly enforced.

All May, August, and December 2020 graduates who wish to participate in the Nov. 21 ceremonies must complete and submit a reservation form, which the Registrar’s Office will send today by email to all 2020 graduates. This form must be returned to the Registrar’s Office no later than Sunday, Oct. 25 in order to participate in a Nov. 21 ceremony.

Based upon the responses we receive, graduates will be assigned to one of three potential ceremonies on Nov. 21, tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m., 1 p.m. or 4 p.m., and given the option of requesting a limited number of guest tickets. Participating graduates will be notified of their assigned ceremony time on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and will receive precise seating assignments, arrival times and other instructions closer to the ceremony date.

Unlike any previously held commencement on our campus, this one will be a very special ceremony recognizing our student’s success, as well as their perseverance and achievements. While we will be celebrating outdoors with a limited program, I am confident this will be a memorable day for each of our graduates and their families.  

It is important to note that since we’ll be subject to the elements, we will have only one inclement weather option: If conditions are unsuitable to conduct our events outside on Saturday, Nov. 21, we will attempt to move the events to the same times on Sunday, Nov. 22. A final decision on conducting our event will be made no later than noon on Friday, Nov. 20 and we will notify students of any change in plans.  

I must be very clear, however: If conditions do not permit us to successfully hold our ceremonies that weekend, there will not be an opportunity to reschedule this semester.  Should that occur, we will honor our 2020 graduates during our Spring 2021 ceremonies.

Please go to our MTSU Graduation webpage for more information. 

I look forward to what will certainly be a unique and historic event in our University’s history.

Sincerely, 
Sidney A. McPhee
President 
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu

To the University community,

We are in the fifth week of the Fall 2020 semester! I deeply appreciate the hard work and thoughtful actions by our faculty, staff and administration, which has allowed us to keep our University open and running as we grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We have reached this point also due to the vigilance of our students and community in following our health and safety guidelines, including the wearing of masks.

Meanwhile, as we continue to extend our efforts to mitigate COVID-19 risks on campus, our attention now must also turn to the upcoming Spring 2021 semester. Among the first matters we must consider is the Spring 2021 Academic Calendar, which must be decided upon soon so we can schedule classes and begin our priority registration process.

Based upon the recommendations of our executive leadership team, and in concurrence with our campus health officials, I have decided it is in our best interest to compress the Academic Calendar as much as possible for the Spring, much like we did for the current Fall semester. As such, we will begin classes for Spring 2021 one week later, with instruction beginning Monday, Jan. 25, and we will also cancel the 2021 Spring Break, which was set for March 8-13.

I have decided, however, to add a study day on Friday, March 12, that I hope will allow our community to take a brief pause and prepare for the final weeks of the Spring semester. We’ll suspend classes for that day, but we will keep open the James E. Walker Library and other academic resources.

We do not make these decisions lightly. However, in line with our decision to cancel the 2020 Fall Break, a condensed semester keeps our community focused on completing coursework and reduces the risk of spreading COVID-19 that could come from back-and-forth travel by our university community from Spring Break locations.

Finally, some important reminders:

• MTSU policy continues to require all community members and visitors to wear masks while inside campus buildings.When outdoors, you should remove your mask ONLY if you can maintain a social distance of 6 feet. These requirements remain in effect, despite the recent decision by Rutherford County to suspend its mask mandate.
• We are grateful to the students who cooperate with our contact tracing efforts and comply with the quarantine requirements that we must impose to keep the campus safe and able to operate. As a reminder, all students are expected to return calls and messages from Student Health Services, as we reach out to identify close contacts of members of our community who have tested positive.
• Failure to cooperate with our health officials, and/or failure to observe all the restrictions of quarantine and isolation, may be grounds for campus disciplinary action, up to and including suspension. Please treat our health services and housing staff with respect and civility; they are working hard to protect you and our campus.
• Although we have lifted some restrictions to allow student organizations to host events, we still seek to limit the density on on-campus events and also limit interaction at such events with individuals from outside our community. As a result, student organization events are limited to up to 50 individuals who must be members or advisors of the organization. Please also remember that these events must meet all social distancing requirements, including wearing masks, keeping 6 feet of distance between participants, and keeping a roster of attendees in the event we need to contact participants afterward. 
• As has been shared previously, we also expect that social distancing guidelines are observed at any student organization events being held off campus. In an effort to keep our campus healthy and able to operate, we may take disciplinary action against groups or individuals that host events that expose our students or other community members to the COVID-19 virus. 
  

Please continue to be safe, keep others safe and remain True Blue. 

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu