The University of Alabama system intends to return to on-campus instruction for the upcoming fall semester barring any more extenuating circumstances or health risks, said Finis E. St. John IV, chancellor of The University of Alabama System.

“We are expecting to have a fall semester at all of our universities,” St. John told AL.com in an interview on Wednesday. “We are expecting it to be on the regular schedule. We understand that things could happen that make it impossible, but that’s what we are planning for at this time.”

The announcement comes after almost two months of remote instruction for the University of Alabama students at the system’s three campuses. How classes will be conducted safely is still up in the air, the chancellor said.

“Now, what will be the parameters of that?" St. John said. "Will it be smaller classes where you alternate between in-person and online? Will you have the option to be in-person or online? All of these things are being decided by the task force and guided by the safety of the students.”

The task force is guided by the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical school dean, Dr. Selwyn Vickers and University of Alabama system counsel Katie Osborne. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, leading infectious disease expert at UAB, and other doctors and administrators are also involved.

St. John said the task force has taken on a weighty role: Making sure that when students return to UA, UAB and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, they are returning to the “safest campuses in the country."

“We fully expect to have on-campus instruction,” St. John said. “We don’t know what the circumstances will be, but we are trying to be ready."