LSU faculty will have the option to continue teaching online or in a hybrid format for two more weeks, Interim Provost Matt Lee said at the Jan. 25 Faculty Senate meeting. 
In an email sent to faculty and staff on Jan. 26, President William Tate IV and Lee said that the extension will last until Monday Feb. 14. Faculty have until Friday Jan. 28 to communicate their plans to their department chair. 
On Jan. 1, Tate announced that LSU faculty would have the option to teach online or in a hybrid format for the first two weeks of the semester due to the Omicron variant currently sweeping the state. After that time, if community and campus positivity rates were below 10%, faculty would have to revert to in-person. 
LSU’s campus positivity rate is currently 16.3%, according to LSU’s COVID-19 dashboard, and East Baton Rouge Parish’s positivity rate is currently 29%. 
While Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced on Jan. 20 that models are showing that Louisiana may be approaching the peak of the Omicron surge, Louisiana’s record COVID case counts will likely take weeks to drop to a pre-Omicron level. 
“We are encouraged by the recent trends in the data that indicate our COVID-19 mitigation efforts are working,” Tate and Lee said in an email to students. “To help ensure we continue trending in the right direction, we are extending faculty flexibility in choosing their course modality for two additional weeks. Faculty members will let you know whether they will teach in a remote, hybrid, or face-to-face format for the additional two-week period.”