TFU: COVID policy for April and after

Posted 2023.4.4

We just got some clarification on TFU COVID policy and thought we should share that info with you.

Until May 7 (end of Golden Week), the school will remain in COVID prevention mode - Level 1. This means that we should continue being careful about adequate ventilation, classroom practices, etc. Wearing masks is recommended, but not required, and students should not be forced to wear masks or penalized for not using them.  

From May 8, the Japanese government will re-classify COVID as a Level 5 infectious disease (like influenza), and TFU will return to pre-COVID practices. As was always the case, faculty and students will be free to wear or not wear masks, as they like.

One effect of this is that from May 8, we will probably be returning the Kunimi Campus language classrooms (LCs - 120, 121, 122) to the pre-COVID island arrangement with four chars around each pair of facing desks). 

The LCs in the Station Campus building (S701, S702, S演8) will remain in a traditional, front-facing arrangement.  Station Campus staff strongly prefer this, and the wide and shallow shape of the classrooms makes this the preferred arrangement for some language teachers, as well. You are free, however, to change to an island arrangement for your own classes and are not required to convert back following your class.