TORRINGTON – Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington will transition to online and hybrid delivery of courses due to an increased number of student COVID-19 cases, the college announced on Oct. 27.

According to EWC Director of College Relations Tami Afdahl, the college originally planned to wrap up courses the week of Nov. 16 and transition online, prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. As of press time Wednesday, five positive COVID-19 cases have been identified among students and 40 students are quarantined in on-campus housing due to exposure.

“Due to the exposure and the number of students we have quarantined, we just felt like it was time to limit the number of students on campus,” Afdahl told The Telegram.

EWC’s Douglas campus will continue to operate normally.

“We are not closing the campus down,” Afdahl said in a press release. “We are trying to limit the number of students on campus and in the residence halls for safety reasons. The safety of our students, our employees and our community is our primary concern.”

Delivery of each course will vary, depending on the professor and the class. Afdahl said the college hopes professors will be able to transition by the end of the week as they take time to prepare students for remote delivery.

“Some of our faculty have already been doing a blended mode of delivery,” Afdahl said. “Some will transition a little easier than others.”

Hybrid delivery, which might include some time online and some time face-to-face or over Zoom, will be decided on a course by course basis, according to Afdahl.

“It’s kind of different for every program and every course, we just can’t say they all fit into this mold,” she said.

Students are encouraged to check for specific information about each course and communicate with faculty.

Residence hall students who are not quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure are asked to begin making arrangements to move out of the halls by Sunday, Nov. 1, the release said. Afdahl acknowledged students with various circumstances that might prevent them from doing so, and she said they should work with Jim Rorabaugh, director of residence life.

“We need to make this transition to try to cut down the number of students on campus for safety reasons,” Afdahl said. “As we vacate rooms in the residence halls, that gives us more room to spread out our students who are under health orders.”

Those in hands-on programs will receive priority placement in the residence halls, per the college’s reopening plan.

Students in these programs, including welding, cosmetology, barbering, veterinary technology, nursing and others will have “modified in-person delivery” of their courses. Afdahl said there are 152 students in these programs that can remain on campus for their hands-on classes, 53 of whom live on campus and can retain a spot in a residence hall.

Community Education, CDL, Adult Education and CNA courses will continue as scheduled unless otherwise notified, according to the release.

The EWC Fitness Center will remain open with mask use required and with limited capacity, 25 patrons.

Updates will continue to be posted to the EWC COVID-19 resource page found at: https://ewc.wy.edu/alerts/.

“We will work with students,” Afdahl said. “We’re not in a panic or in a rush. We just need to make this transition to try to cut down the number of students on campus for safety reasons.”