In early April, then President Helen Drinan said on the Bloomberg Businessweek Podcast that universities should have a plan for the fall semester by July 1. Now, nearly two weeks into July, a plan has yet to be announced, causing frustration for some students.

“There will never be a good time to make a decision so waiting until the last second is really going to make everything worse,” said Colette Simpson, a rising junior nursing student. 

Before the pandemic Simpson planned to live on campus and told the Voice if that is not an option for the Fall semester, she will likely look for an apartment. Simpson says the longer the decision takes to be made, the more difficult it will be

In addition to concerns about having enough time to find housing, students such as rising senior public health major Manal Riadi are worried about the time left to make decisions about internships whose application deadlines are approaching. 

“I’m just stuck wondering what do I even apply for,” said Riadi. “Do I apply for internships in Boston, or do I look for things in my hometown? I’m anxious about what to do.”

“As a result of the evolving nature of this crisis, other colleges and universities have already been forced to revise or reverse their fall semester plans,” wrote Laura Brink Pisinski, chair of the Simmons University COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce and VP of University Real Estate and Facilities in a statement to the Voice. “We’ve taken this time in part to avoid the type of reversal that would create further disruption and uncertainty for our community.”

The Board of Trustees will review a final fall recommendation early next week and will communicate the announcement after that according to Brink Pisinski’s statement.

Rising junior English major Kelly Cotton said that although the plan for the fall was not announced July 1, she wished Simmons had sent something to update students on the process.

“It kind of feels like it’s that thing where they thought they pressed “send” but didn’t” said Cotton. “It’s just kind of been absurdly long that we’ve been waiting for this.”