Mocs News Reporting the news that matters most to UTC
By Regina Baker
Chattanooga, TENN. After the rise of COVID-19 universities changed the directions of graduation. Following CDC guidelines and regulations did not give students your normal graduation.
With the pandemic slowing down and vaccines are being administered. Students and faculty within the university have seen improvement in rates of sickness.
Still, the university has not set an official program due to the limitations given by the pandemic. UTC will give more information closer to graduation dates to ensure the safety of students.
Education Major Madeline Redd stated,
“I think by the time we graduate the schools will have the regulations and procedures done so that the graduates can have an in-person ceremony. This will give students the opportunities to have graduation and feel safe.”
The majority of Universities have set in-person graduation ceremonies for May of 2022, UTC has chosen to wait. This is due to following the rates of sickness and influx of the virus. Monitoring the rates of the virus gives UTC a better perspective of what needs to be done during future graduations.
Commencements in 2022 should be better for the students and their experience. Graduates of 2021 stated that their experience changed how influences life after college.
U.S. News gave insight into procedures done by universities,
“Now, more than a year into the pandemic, colleges have employed various strategies to help graduates celebrate their big moment safely. While colleges that didn’t cancel outright leaned heavily on virtual graduations in 2020, many are now shifting back to in-person ceremonies – often with limited attendance – and a few have introduced tech-savvy tools that make graduation day look like something out of a science fiction novel.”(2021)
Students also had to adapt to the new graduations that were being planned (NBC, 2021). This led to students coming into their last semesters at UTC unsure of what their graduation would be like.
Mocs News reported on the fall semester and what was ahead for students in the university and graduation. Sharing Chancellor Angles plans for the semester and procedures within the pandemic.
“We will continue to adopt measures to protect the health and safety of the campus community that align with guidance from the CDC and the Tennessee and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Departments of Health. If circumstances make it necessary to revisit our processes or approaches, we will do so, with the health and safety of our community being the top priority”.
The university has seen improvement throughout the pandemic but following regulations and procedures is the best way to ensure the safety of students. Along with providing the best experience for their graduation ceremonies.
