More than 200 faculty members requested accommodations to teach their classes virtually this fall, Provost Brian Blake said.

Blake said last week that faculty have been provided the option to opt out of teaching classes in person this fall. He said about 15 percent of faculty have submitted requests to opt out of teaching classes in person so far and said officials are in the process of developing a plan for the options that will be provided for teaching assistants this fall.

Blake said officials have received guidance from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences regarding the status of TAs for the fall semester and are in the process of preparing a draft that will be out “soon.”

“I know there’s real concern about that, so we’re going to operate with extreme care for the people,” he said. “We’re really going to have to be accommodating to faculty, students, TAs, everyone in the context of being in a position where they feel that they may be unsafe or feel unsafe.”

Blake said last week that all classes this fall will be recorded so students can choose among attending class in an in-person, remote or hybrid format.

He said at the time that officials are “strongly encouraging” faculty to make their requests to opt out of teaching classes in person as soon as possible.

“In addition to preparing the class schedules, I also want to give students an idea of what they can anticipate in the fall,” Blake said.