Pennsylvania State System universities suspend off-site internships

College students working on off-site internships are among the latest group facing an interruption in their semester due to coronavirus precautions.

On Monday, officials at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ordered all graduate and undergraduate students from the 14 state-owned universities working at off campus placements including professional placements, practica, internships, research internships, and clinical rotations not report to their work sites until face-to-face classes resume.

In Western Pennsylvania, that decision includes students from California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities. All of the state system schools across Pennsylvania and nearly every residential college in the region have suspended face-to-face classes in favor of online instruction in an attempt to reduce the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus which causes covid-19.

In addition to suspending face-to-face instruction, officials at the System headquarters at the Dixon Center, near Harrisburg, have converted most staff to working remotely and closed offices at the Dixon Center and Vartan Way in Harrisburg to the public.

“For our students and employees across the State System, their best source of information is their own university, which has the most up-to-date details about class and campus operations, housing, and all university activities,” Chancellor Daniel Greenstein said. “Information changes rapidly, so I encourage everyone to monitor their own university’s announcements closely.”