VSU Cancels Classes and Business Operations Until Oct. 7

The campus of Valdosta State University is dealing with the widespread impacts of Hurricane Helene.

UPDATE ON OCTOBER 3, 2024

We hope everyone is safe and coping well during this challenging time as we work on recovery after Hurricane Helene. All VSU classes will resume virtually on Monday, October 7, depending on widespread power and network availability, and will follow the plan outlined below. Virtual instruction will continue until Wednesday, October 16, when we anticipate returning to normal operations. We know many students need to get items from their residence halls before classes resume online, and we expect to have information on that tomorrow. Please review the following information for details.  

Online courses:  

• Instructional activities will resume for all online graduate and undergraduate courses beginning Monday, October 7. 

Face-to-face/in-person courses:  

• All in-person courses will temporarily move to online/remote instruction beginning Monday, October 7 with a plan to return to face-to-face/in-person instruction on Wednesday, October 16. 
• Faculty may use Monday, October 14 and Tuesday, October 15 during Fall Break as dates for remote instruction.  

Session I (Fall Short Term A) online courses:  

• Extended through Tuesday, November 26.  
• Faculty will be asked to publish and open all assignments by Monday, October 7 for all Session I online courses so that students may complete coursework at their own pace. This will help to minimize the possible impact of the overlap of Session I and Session II courses. 
• Students are encouraged to complete all Term A coursework as soon as possible to avoid conflicting with Term B. However, students will have until Tuesday, November 26th to complete Term A coursework without penalty. 

Session I (Fall Short Term A) face-to-face/in-person courses: 

• By November 26, all class days and coursework missed as a result of storm closure will be made-up per the guidance provided by your instructor. 
• Students will have until Tuesday, November 26 to complete Term Assignments without penalty. 

Session II (Fall Short Term B) courses:  

• All Session II (Fall Short Term B) courses (online and face-to-face/in-person) will start as scheduled on Wednesday, October 16, and end as scheduled. 
• Faculty will be asked to publish and open all assignments by Monday, October 16 for all Session II online courses so that students may complete coursework at their own pace. This will help to minimize the possible impact of the overlap of Session I and Session II courses. 

Deadlines to withdraw:  

• From full semester courses:
  o   Extended 2 weeks to Thursday, November 14 

• From Session I (Fall Short Term A courses):
  o   Extended to Thursday, October 24 

• From Session II (Fall Short Term B courses):
  o   Remains as scheduled – Friday, November 22 

Commencement: 

• Remains as scheduled
  o   Graduate – Friday, December 13
  o   Undergraduate – Saturday, December 14 

Homecoming: 

• The Offices of Student Life and Alumni Relations are working on plans for Homecoming, and we expect to release more information about that tomorrow.  

Faculty information: 

• Faculty are asked to be flexible in working with students to complete coursework regardless of modality.  
   

Staff information: 

• Information regarding staff’s return to work will be announced tomorrow.  

If you have any questions, please reach out to the VSU Solutions Center beginning Monday, October 7 during normal business hours (8:00 am - 5:30 pm Monday - Thursday and 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Friday) at (229) 245-4357.  

We know you are nervous about navigating these next few weeks. Please reach out if there is anything we can do to assist. Together, we’ve got this! 

UPDATE ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

VSU virtual coursework tentatively planned to resume Wednesday has now been postponed until Monday, October 7. eCore classes taught by West Georgia remain scheduled, but professors have been asked to be flexible with VSU students during this time. All business operations remain canceled this week. Please see additional guidance below.

Classes: The Provost’s Office will work with Deans and Academic Department Heads to develop revised instruction plans for missed class time.

Employees: Please refer to a separate email forthcoming from payroll regarding important processing information. If you are considered essential personnel, your supervisor will let you know if and when you need to report to work during the closure.

Campus is Closed: With remaining residential students being relocated to a location with full power and amenities, only essential personnel are allowed on campus during the closure. There is still a lot of clean up to be done.

Athletics and Campus Activities this Week: ALL events scheduled on-campus for this week including National Night Out are postponed/canceled. All home athletics events are postponed/canceled, but some away athletic events remain as scheduled.

Please continue to stay safe and take care of yourself and your families in the coming days.

UPDATE ON SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

Hurricane Helene hit our campus and community hard. Currently, most power in Lowndes County is out and there are many trees and power lines down. It is going to take considerable time to get campus ready for in person classes. Please see the following update on campus operations.

The campus will remain closed through next week. Only current residential students and essential employees are allowed to be on campus.

Classes: In person classes will NOT be held next week. We are tentatively planning for ALL classes to begin remote instruction Wednesday, October 2 based on the widespread availability of power and internet access in our service region. Look for an update early next week to confirm classes starting virtually on Wednesday.

Staff Return to Work: Additional guidance for staff will be announced early next week. 

On Campus Students: We do not know how long power will be out on campus. We encourage students who are able to go home safely to return home. Those not able to go home are allowed to remain on campus and there will be dining options for them. Please communicate with Housing staff if you are leaving campus. There is a city-wide curfew in place for 8pm. All students remaining on campus must be back in their hall by 8pm.

Dining: Palms Dining will remain open during campus closure to serve on-campus residential students based on the schedule below. All other dining options on campus will be closed.

• Palms will be open for breakfast from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• Palms will be open for lunch from 12:30 p.m.  – 2 p.m.
• Palms will be open for dinner from 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• These hours will remain in place until power returns.
  
  

Grad Finale: This event for December graduates was to be held in the VSU Bookstore, 1^st floor of the Student Union, and online next Tuesday – Wednesday, October 1-2. The in-person portion of Grad Finale is postponed, but the online Grad Finale resources are still available. Below is the link to the ONLINE Grad Finale. Reminder, the discount codes are only good the 48 hours of the online event (midnight, October 1 – 11:59 p.m. on October 2)

ONLINE Grad Finale Link: https://www.valdosta.edu/administration/president/commencement/grad-finale.php

Athletics: All Blazer Athletics home events for the next week have been postponed. Updates will be posted here: https://vstateblazers.com/index.aspx

Please remain safe during this time and continue to monitor VSU email and social media for up-to-date campus information.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State University is continuing to monitor what is now Tropical Storm Helene. The latest models show increased intensity as it moves toward the Big Bend of Florida and South Georgia. To ensure the safety of our entire campus community, VSU will be closed Thursday, Sept. 26, and Friday, Sept. 27. 

Please continue reading for important information below. 

Residence Halls: Students and housing employees who live on campus are allowed to remain in their hall during the closure and storm. Housing staff will be providing guidance and support to residents throughout the storm. During the brunt of the storm, students remaining on campus will be required to shelter in place in their residence hall. Separate communication from Housing will be sent to students living on campus asking to report if they will be staying. 

Dining Services: All dining locations on campus will have normal operating hours on Wednesday, Sept. 25. 

• Palms Dining will be open Thursday, Sept. 26 for brunch from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.  All other dining locations will be closed.
• Meal plan holders can eat and take a meal to go from the dining halls during brunch.
• Storm meal bags with non-perishable items can also be picked up from Palms Dining during this time.
• We anticipate Palms Dining to reopen for meal service once the storm passes Friday and it is safe to do so. Updates will be sent via email. 
• We encourage students to also have water and shelf-stable food.

Athletics: Both the Blazer volleyball and women’s soccer matches scheduled for Friday have been moved. For Saturday, both the home football game vs. West Alabama (7 p.m.) and the home volleyball match vs. Union (1 p.m.) are still on as of now. The volleyball match rescheduled from Friday will be played at 1 p.m. this Sunday at The Complex. The scheduled soccer match on Sunday at 1 p.m. vs. Lee is also still a go at this time. Updates on the impact of Helene on Blazer Athletics can be found here. 

Students, faculty, and staff should continue to monitor their valdosta.edu email for updates. Updates will also be posted on VSU’s flagship social media accounts (@valdostastate).