College of the Atlantic is among a growing cohort of Maine colleges stating their intention to op...College of the Atlantic is among a growing cohort of Maine colleges stating their intention to open their campuses for Fall term.

This should be the time of year when colleges and universities in Maine are preparing for graduation ceremonies. But the focus for many is now on September.

“We’re going to operate on the assumption that we’re going to be open. But we’re not going to be so naïve as to not plan for the possibility, should we not be able to be,” says University of New England President James Herbert.

Other schools are also redesigning their classes to prepare for any scenario that could arise. Darron Collins, the president of Bar Harbor’s College of the Atlantic, says with students from 55 countries and more than 40 states, travel restrictions may limit who can even get there.

“One of the contingency plans that we’re working on is how would we deliver a hybrid program where some cohort of the student body is on campus, and some cohort isn’t? And again, across the spectrum of courses, that is a lot easier to do in some cases, and a lot more difficult to do in others,” he says.

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