CUNY announced its plans for a “safe and gradual return to mostly in-person instruction and support services in time for the start of classes in Fall 2021” on Jan. 5 and while this is wonderful news, nothing was announced about the summer session.

Students can assume that classes will be online for the summer by going on CUNYFirst, but students should not have to assume. The administration needs to do better in informing students what to expect.

Many out-of-state and international students are in a conundrum because of the lack of communication from CUNY about the summer session.

If classes are in-person, many students who would prefer to take these courses sooner than the fall semester are inadequately prepared to plan ahead. They aren’t able to make the best choice for themselves.

It’s understandable that the COVID-19 pandemic has flipped the world upside down for everyone, including CUNY given that every campus needed to take a different approach in handling the crisis.

Every CUNY campus has different aspects to consider when it comes to the reintroduction of inperson schooling.

Open campuses like City College and Queens College for instance, may have different strategies for returning to in-person schooling than Baruch College, with its more condensed college environment.

With that all being said, that’s no excuse for a lack of communication between CUNY and its students.

Even though things look a lot brighter now, with the arrival and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the uncertainty of the future still looms large.

At this point, students can safely assume that the summer session will be fully virtual — but communication is key.

Despite being cliché, in an age where virtual communication is the main form of understanding what’s happening next, all concerns need to be addressed for students.

CUNY needs to do a better job of informing students about the plans for the summer session and the roadmap to get back to in-person schooling