University of Arizona officials announced the cancellation of spring break and that it will be replaced with reading days spread throughout the semester as part of its COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

The school’s faculty senate on Oct. 5 approved the one-time adjustment to the spring schedule, and Provost Liesl Folks announced the changes in a letter sent to students and staff on Wednesday morning.

Folks said the measure was a “necessary component” of the university’s response to the pandemic, which following a spike in cases in early September also included a two-week shelter-in-place policy.

UA is joined by other universities including the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Florida and Iowa State University in canceling spring break in light of the pandemic, Folks said.

The newly-added reading days are:

• Thursday, Feb. 25
• Tuesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 10
• Friday, April 2
• Wednesday, April 21

The change will require “small adjustments” to the start and end dates of seven-week and five-week sessions, Folks said, adding that a “limited” number of classes will need to meet on reading days to stay in sync.

Certain programs in the Colleges of Medicine and College of Veterinary Medicine would not be impacted by the change because they operate on separate academic calendars, Folks said.

In-person instruction for classes with 30 or fewer students began Monday at the university, following downward trends in infection rates over the last several weeks.

The change was expected to bring 1,500 more students to campus each week, UA President Robert Robbins said in a weekly briefing on Monday.

Data also released Monday showed a steady decrease in positive COVID-19 tests at the university, which reported a total of 30 new cases within the prior 10 days, reflecting a 0.5% positivity rate.

The weekly average of positive cases was at four on Monday, down from 17 reported the previous week.

Both Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University still had spring break on their 2021 academic calendars as of Wednesday.

Arizona Republic reporters Emily Wilder and Salma Reyes contributed to this report.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8529. Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank. 

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