The Ithaca College Los Angeles Program will not be holding a Spring 2021 session. The decision was announced Wednesday night at the Parent and Family Virtual Gathering by Dr. Jack Powers, Interim Dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications.
The challenge of implementing regular COVID-19 testing, the lack of available quarantine and isolation housing, and the absence of a dedicated medical staff—all currently available on the Ithaca College campus—combined with the media industry engaging in efforts to limit face-to-face interaction, made the decision a difficult but necessary one.
“Simply put, there is no situation where risking the health and safety of Park students is acceptable and, as both the interim dean and father of a student who planned to study in LA this Spring semester, the Los Angeles experience comes with too significant of a health risk to responsibly reopen the campus,” said Powers.
Dr. Stephen Tropiano, ICLA program director, discussed how the pandemic has impacted the internship experience as well. “We spoke to our internship providers and they either were making them virtual or pulling them altogether. The health and safety of the student always comes before the experience of working in LA but when you look at both, reopening the campus is simply not advisable.”
Juniors in the Park School planning to attend in Spring 2021 will have the choice of attending in Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022. Seniors graduating in December 2020 and May 2021 will have the option of attending ICLA in Summer 2021 after they graduate. The Park School will be sending detailed information to the students impacted in the upcoming weeks.
Interim Dean Powers indicated that the Park School had been planning for this situation. “We totally get that this is a critical part of the Park School experience and now we need to pivot. Our students returning to Ithaca will find an increase in class offerings this spring and for those who are graduating, we will be expanding our extramural experience this summer. No one could have anticipated being in this situation and times are tough but we are the Park School—we will adjust, adapt, and succeed.”
Please direct any questions concerning the Ithaca College Los Angeles campus to the program director, Dr. Stephen Tropiano. Dr. Tropiano can be reached at laprogram@ithaca.edu
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20201015200217115