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NC Colleges Cross Fingers And Plan For Spring

A pedestrian uses a tunnel walkway at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in June. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Many colleges and universities across North Carolina have announced their plans for operation in the spring semester, even as COVID-19 cases rise across the state. 

Most of the colleges who have already announced their plans did so weeks ago, just as COVID numbers started rising again. So the schedules may change before classes resume.

UNC, N.C. State, and Wake Forest have all canceled spring break in order to limit travel and control the spread of the virus. Instead, they'll allow students to take wellness days during the semester to have some time off without the traditional trips.

Wake Forest allowed some limited in-person classes this fall, but both UNC and N.C. State went completely online after outbreaks early in the semester. All three will have delayed starts to the spring semester, and UNC and N.C. State will once again try to bring students back to some classes.

The pandemic also canceled most of this year's graduation ceremonies. Some universities, including UNC and Wake Forest, are planning 2020 and 2021 observances in May.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing. 

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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