United Faculty of Florida calling on more university classes to be moved to digital platforms
ORLANDO, Fla. - Classes at the University of Central Florida will begin Monday.
Most classes will be held virtually, but some will be face-to-face.
The United Faculty of Florida is calling for more classes to be moved to a digital platform.
The UCF campus was quiet Sunday afternoon.
Students say they're expecting campus to be like that throughout the semester.
"Normally, you see a lot more people outside playing on the quad," said UCF sophomore Alex Leavitt. "You just walk on by, there's no traffic. It's strange."
Most UCF classes will be held online this semester.
About one quarter of classes will be in person.
UCF says on a regular school day last year there would be about 19,000 students on campus. The university says this year, officials expect that number to be around 3,000.
The United Faculty of Florida UCF Chapter says some professors are worried about coming back to campus.
"Some of the things heard from faculty is that 'my daughter is high-risk and I don't want to put anyone at risk,'" said United Faculty of Florida President Scott Launier.
The University of Florida Union Chapter says it would like to see more classes moved to a digital platform.
"Look, all of us would prefer to teach in person, but we're in the middle of this world-historical crisis and we just can't do that," said United Faculty of Florida UF President Paul Ortiz.
Both UCF and UF have testing available for students and have ramped up cleaning measures at the campuses.
The president of UCF spoke about the decision to reopen campus last week.
"For many of our students, studying and living on campus are essential to their personal and academic growth and for maintaining their paths to graduation," said UCF President Alexander Cartwright.
Some students on campus say they feel comfortable with the measures put in place.
"I think UCF is doing a pretty good job of taking precautions, so fingers crossed everything goes OK," Leavitt said.