MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees on Thursday approved campus committee recommendations to revise the winter 2021 semester academic calendar and to hold a virtual recognition ceremony celebrating all 2020 graduates.

Winter semester will be delayed by one week, with in-person classes starting Jan. 19, just after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Spring break will be canceled and the semester will end on May 1, as originally scheduled.

The NMU Ad Hoc Calendar Committee determined that canceling spring break would reduce the potential for COVID-19 virus transmission from other destinations to Marquette, and eliminate the need to develop additional safety protocols for returning to campus mid-semester.

The committee was led by NMU Academic Senate Chair Norma Froelich and composed of faculty, staff and the president of the Associated Students of Northern Michigan University student government.

The board also approved an NMU Commencement Committee recommendation that the university hold a virtual graduation recognition ceremony and premiere the event online after the fall semester ends, most likely Nov. 28. Those who qualified for graduation in May or August, or those who complete their studies this semester, will receive an official invitation to view the ceremony.

They will also be mailed a printed commencement program, diploma cover and 2020 graduate lapel pin.

“The board of trustees is very grateful for all the hard work Norma Froelich and the committee did on the calendar,” Chairman Steve Mitchell said. “These are good, common-sense recommendations that will help NMU be as safe as possible for the students, faculty and staff next semester. We had hoped the virus issues would have been over by the December graduation, but that was not to be.

“The virtual graduation is designed to honor the graduates as best we can in this COVID-19 world. When we can have a regular commencement, all those who did not have one will be invited back to campus to participate.”

Mitchell called the situation “unfortunate.”

“We all have had disappointments during this period of COVID, and it’s a great disappointment not for those students to be able to have a regular graduation,” Mitchell said. “We want to honor them and we want to have the opportunity to do that.”

NMU President Fritz Erickson said no determination has been made yet regarding testing for the winter 2021 semester.

Erickson said NMU is running into difficulties in getting materials to perform the tests itself. There also is a “run” on commercial testing laboratories.

“We have to make the determination given some of the delays we had last time,” Erickson said. “If we don’t get results back in five or six days, it’s one of the issues we have to really look at in terms of the value of testing.”

He also acknowledged testing protocols from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may change by then.

Mitchell said the issue can be discussed at the October board meeting, and hopes testing can take place.

“I think it made a lot of sense, but again there are a lot of factors that are outside of our control, and I think we have to seriously look at how we can do that,” Mitchell said.

Trustees also agreed to move the meeting previously scheduled or this week to Oct. 15-16.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net