Northeastern to offer students in person, online options in fall

Northeastern University.David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

Northeastern University will let students choose between coming to class or participating online as it reopens its campus in the fall, administrators said Friday, joining a number of Boston-area universities that are offering flexible options to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A program called NUflex will allow students on campus and those living elsewhere to participate in classes in person or through video, audio, or instant messaging, according to a message to university community from Chancellor Kenneth W. Henderson and Provost David Madigan.

The classes also will be recorded so that students can watch them later, Henderson and Madigan said.

The option of attending classes in person or online “will provide students at any location with the ability to reduce their time in the classroom, to begin the academic term remotely, or to return home to complete courses remotely before the end of the academic term, the administrators said.

Boston University announced Monday that it would move to a similar hybrid model, which BU is calling Learn from Anywhere.

Northeastern is working to reduce its campus population in dormitories and dining halls to allow for social distancing recommended by public health officials to halt the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, according to the administrators.

The university has invested in new technology and has workers outfitting classrooms now to prepare for the start of classes on Sept. 9, they said.