Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College returns to regular hours to prepare for fall semester

TIFTON — After utilizing a four-day work week for four months because of changes brought about by COVID-19, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has returned to its regular hours to prepare for the approaching fall semester.

ABAC Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Paul Willis said ABAC is now open from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday.

The college plans to return to in-person instruction when the fall semester begins on Aug. 12. Along with the other 25 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia, ABAC taught classes online for the final weeks of the spring semester and the entirety of the summer term.

Willis said the fall semester will be condensed so that all classes and final examinations will be completed on Nov. 24. When students leave the campus for the Thanksgiving break, they will not return until just prior to the start of spring semester classes on Jan. 11.

“Students and their parents will save time and money, and since the students will not return to campus after Thanksgiving, the opportunity for a virus outbreak on campus in December will be eliminated,” Willis said.

Willis said the extra days during December without students on campus will also give ABAC personnel more time to thoroughly clean residence halls, classrooms, laboratories and the dining hall.

ABAC fall semester classes will end on Nov. 19. Final exams will be held on Nov. 20-21 and Nov. 23-24. As a part of the revised calendar, ABAC classes will be held on Labor Day on Sept. 7 and on the previously scheduled Fall Break on Oct. 19-20.

All ABAC fall semester events, including the Arts Connection series, the Carter Arts and Lecture Series at ABAC-Bainbridge, music concerts, and First Tuesday concerts have been cancelled. The ABAC soccer team is moving its usual fall season to the spring term.

Special Photo: ABAC