WEST LAFAYETTE – Purdue will transition to virtual classrooms by March 23, when students return from next week’s spring break, as Purdue President Mitch Daniels said he was looking to protect the West Lafayette campus from a potential advance of the coronavirus.

The online classes could last through the end of the semester.

By Wednesday, a lot of the questions were hanging over campus.

“I think this morning, people are going through how this affects them,” Tim Doty, a Purdue spokesman, said Wednesday.

Here’s what we know so far.

PRESIDENT DANIELS’ RATIONALE LAID OUT IN A LETTER TO CAMPUS

“We recognize that these actions will be disruptive and create challenges for many of you, as well as have financial implications for the university, but the health and safety of our community is our focus at this extraordinary time,” Daniels and Provost Jay Akridge wrote to the campus Tuesday, explaining the move.

“We know this is an exceptionally challenging time for our campus, and it will take all of us working together to navigate this most difficult situation and protect the health and well-being of our Purdue community.”

CLASSES ARE MOVING ONLINE

Purdue professors were asked to transition their courses out of the classroom and online starting March 23, the day after spring break. They said faculty and students “should be prepared to continue as long as in-person instruction seems inadvisable – potentially through the end of the semester.”

Students still would have access to campus libraries and other places, where Purdue’s broadband service would be available, Doty said.

More:Coronavirus: Purdue joins Ohio State, IU, dozens of others, ditches in-person classes

CAMPUS PLANNING FOR ‘TEACHING REMOTELY’ STARTED MORE THAN A WEEK AGO

Purdue administrators and faculty put together a seven-page document detailing how professors and students might need to deal with remote classrooms, labs and exams. That was sent to faculty members Monday, Frank Dooley, senior vice provost for teaching and learning, said Tuesday. Dooley said he and others started working on a plan more than a week ago, as the universities in other parts of the country hit earlier with confirmed coronavirus cases contemplated the move.

Dooley said a team to Purdue faculty members and administrators developed the “teaching remotely” advice, breaking things down into questions about how to communicate with students, how to deliver and complete coursework and how to assess students. Dooley said that included questions about how to do work typically assigned in a lab and what to do about students who might live in areas without reliable broadband internet access available on campus.

“I’m not going to tell anyone it’s going to be easy,” Dooley said. “The first thing we’d want the faculty to do is to say, ‘Here’s what’s changing in my class, and here’s what my expectations are going forward.’ … Something closely related to that is the importance of being reasonable. We’re all in this new circumstance. We may very well have to adjust our thinking, as we go.”

ON CAMPUS AFTER SPRING BREAK

“To be clear, the campus will remain open after spring break,” Daniels and Akridge wrote. Students who live in residence halls will have the option of returning to campus or not after spring break.

Residence halls will remain open over spring break, as well.

For staff on campus – 16,925 total, including 1,920 faculty members, 8,101 staff members and 5,212 graduate student staff, according to Purdue’s Data Digest – “normal campus operations will continue at this time,” they wrote.

“Supervisors should be making plans around essential personnel and telework in case we need to take more aggressive actions,” Daniels and Akridge wrote.

PURDUE STUDENT REACTION

► “I think it's absolutely the right decision,” Dylan Sumski, a freshman from Westfield, said. “I mean, Purdue’s a very population-dense campus, and judging by how many students there are on a daily basis just meandering around touching everything, it’s a proper decision.”

► “I’m really overwhelmed,” Julia Chamberlain, a freshman from St. Louis, said. “It's just kind of like turning our world upside down, because we're going home but we don't know how long we're going to be there. It's just kind of overwhelming.”

► “I think it was kind of expected, because a lot of schools canceled or went online before us. So, I was kind of expecting it,” William Hurdle, a freshman engineering student from Carmel, said. “But I’m concerned about how everything’s going to work, since they didn’t specify how everything is going to happen. They just said everything is going to be online, and we’ll figure it out later.”

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS GET WIDER

On Tuesday, Purdue suspended all university-sponsored domestic and international air travel between March 16 and May 2. Nonessential travel by other means – including bus, van or car – also was “strongly discouraged.”

In recent weeks, Purdue already had increased university-related travel restrictions. University-sponsored travel to those on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Level 2 and Level 3 advisories – China, Japan, Iran, South Korea and Italy – had been prohibited through the summer. Last week, Purdue canceled all university-related travel – including for study abroad and service learning trips – during spring break, which starts after classes on Friday.

HOW ABOUT STUDY ABROAD?

Study abroad programs have been canceled for spring break and summer break.

EVENTS WILL BE CANCELED ON CAMPUS, TOO

In their letter, Daniels and Akridge said they were suspending all university-sponsored events the involve external visitors, effective March 16 to May 2. That included gatherings of 50 or more attendees. What that would mean for sporting events on campus and what academic conferences or shows would be canceled wasn’t immediately clear.

As of Wednesday morning, Purdue’s athletic teams were still scheduled to travel to its games and events, including Thursday night’s opening game in the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. No changes had been made to the spring football game at Ross-Ade Stadium on April 4. Games are scheduled on campus in the next week in baseball and men’s and women’s tennis.

Purdue on Wednesday canceled Spring Fest, a popular community event featuring Bug Bowl, which had been scheduled for April 18.

WHAT WILL THAT DO FOR SPRING COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES IN MAY?

A final decision on whether to hold graduation ceremonies will be made later in the semester, according to Purdue’s coronavirus page.

OTHER CAMPUSES AROUND THE COUNTRY

In the past week, dozens of universities have canceled in-person classes, in some fashion, for the coming days or weeks. Indiana University will quit holding in-person classes after next week’s spring break until April 6. Among the others: Ohio State, Harvard, New York University, Columbia, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-San Diego, University of Southern California, Princeton, Seattle University and Amherst.

WHAT’S THE CORONAVIRUS SITUATION IN INDIANA?

As of Wednesday, Indiana had 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from six reported Tuesday, according to the latest figures from the Indiana State Department of Health. Those cases were in Marion, Hendricks, Boone, Johnson, Howard and Adams counties.

The state has tested 43 people, according to the dashboard.

On Monday, schools in Avon closed for the next two weeks in connection with a coronavirus case in the Hendricks County city, 55 miles from West Lafayette. The Tippecanoe County Health Department has declared a public health emergency.

No cases had been confirmed at Purdue or in Greater Lafayette.

CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS AND PREVENTIVE CARE

COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. The county health department recommended staying home if you’re sick; washing hands frequently; coughing into a tissue or the inside of your elbow; avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth; staying clear of those who are sick; and staying up to date on changing recommendations as coronavirus spreads.

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

Purdue set up a site to answer frequently asked questions about how the West Lafayette campus was dealing with the potential for coronavirus. Go to: www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q1/need-to-know-info-about-covid-2019.html

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.