Spring semester starts Monday at Central Florida colleges amid rising COVID-19 cases

The spring semester is starting at Central Florida universities with adjustments because of COVID-19.

The University of Central Florida is allowing students back in the classroom in person on Monday. 

The school will be reducing seating capacity in classes, adding hand sanitizing stations across campuses, and using disinfectant foggers to conduct efficient cleaning, among many others, according to its website. 

"It’s definitely going to be smaller sizes. A lot of my classes will be split up, so instead of Tuesday’s Thursday’s, I might just be coming in on Tuesdays with half the class rather than the full class," said student Cameron Wynne.

UCF will also begin sending messaging to UCF Mobile app users in heavily populated areas. Specialized hardware will be utilized to trigger the messaging, which will include reminders, such as "Armor Up" or "Complete the COVID Self-Checker."

Meanwhile, Bethune-Cookman University (BCU) has delayed in-person classes until February 15. Students will spend the next month learning online. 

Freshman Belton Rowe said the sudden change is an issue for some students. 

"We were all ready. Most of us quit our jobs, flights booked. Most of the people out of state you know? This ruined everything."

The school cited Florida’s positivity rate and a new COVID variant detected in the state to explain the decision. 

All BCU students must test negative for COVID before returning to campus.

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