The 2020 fall semester was a test to see if Piedmont College could handle being on campus amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. Because it was handled well by students and faculty thus far, Piedmont will have a similar face to face spring semester. The spring semester will start after the MLK holiday, and Piedmont is removing spring break.

“We pushed the return date back because of the cancellation of spring break. If Piedmont didn’t shorten the semester either at the beginning or the end, we would have had a semester that was 17 weeks long,” said Daniel Silber, Senior Vice President and Provost of Academic Affairs at Piedmont College.

A long break after a tough semester is exciting to some students, but students still want an answer to the spring break’s cancellation.

“It was to avoid having large numbers of students travel to distant locations where they might be at increased risk of COVID-19 and more likely bring the virus back to campus,” said Silber addressing the cancellation to spring break. “To the extent possible, we want to keep students on campus and follow established safety protocols.”

Students were informed about the changes Oct, 1, which shocked many students. Students normally travel to other states to enjoy their vacation time, or simply go home to spend time with family and friends.

“I’m opposed to the cancellation of spring break, but I also know the precautions Piedmont has to take to make sure students aren’t traveling to different places and possibly contracting COVID-19,” said senior Early Childhood Education major Deoni Thigpen.

Students look forward to spring break since there aren’t that many holiday breaks in the spring semester. Since Piedmont is canceling the regular week-long vacation, instead, there will be a strategically placed no-class “reading periods” that will give students and faculty time to catch up on work or take a break if needed.

“I’m glad Piedmont is implementing a period where teachers and students can get a little break from school. Hoping those periods will help since we don’t get a full week off,” said Thigpen

With the spring semester shifting, and the change to spring break, many think there will not be many campus activities. However, that is not the case; Student Life still plans to provide the best experience to Piedmont students.

“Students Life still plans to support our students in any way we can. The change to the spring semester will still allow us to plan campus activities, events and programs to best serve our students while they are on campus,” said Kimberly Crawford, Dean of Student Life and Leadership. “In addition, we will continue to promote co-curricular programing efforts to help complement the academic experience.”

Piedmont continues to provide the best college experience to its students, but the safety of the campus is their primary focus. Even though the spring semester is still a few months out, Piedmont College wants to be prepared before things get started.

“Those days have not yet been scheduled, but they are likely to fall on some combination of Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in order to avoid three- day weekends as much as possible,” said Silber. “We are still working out additional details in the spring calendar.”