Multiple academic advising directors told undergraduate students via email on Tuesday morning that it is “likely that classes will be online” in spring quarter, but “it is not certain as of yet.” 

“I know that the University administration is currently evaluating what next quarter will look like, and there should be more specific guidance coming in the next few days,” wrote lead academic advising director Arik Lifschitz in an email to students.

On Sunday, Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, told instructors to prepare for the “possibility that instruction in the first few weeks of spring quarter may need to be delivered online.”

“If you have never used Zoom for teaching, this may be a good time to try it out,” she wrote. 

The message directs recipients to the Teach Anywhere website, which offers information on teaching online.  

The email comes while the University has offered little definite information on the status of spring quarter, leading to speculation and anxiety among students. 

Some schools on both the east and west coast have already moved to suspend in-person classes. The University of Washington, as well as Columbia and Princeton, have moved to online classes, according to The New York Times. Princeton is encouraging students to stay home after spring break and complete their studies from off-campus. Harvard also announced on Tuesday morning that all courses will move to remote instruction starting March 23, and students are asked not to return to campus after spring break, which begins this Saturday. 

This article has been updated with information from emails sent by multiple academic advising directors to undergraduates on Tuesday morning. The article’s previous headline was “Instructors told to prepare for possibility of online classes in early spring quarter.”

Contact Charlie Curnin at ccurnin ‘at’ stanford.edu, Julia Ingram at jmingram ‘at’ stanford.edu and Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.