Administrators have placed the continuing education program in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design on hiatus in light of the risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

The program, which holds non-credit classes on art and design, is designed for working adults to study the basics of art and design or develop further expertise, the program’s website states. Kym Rice, the director of Corcoran, said the program was placed on hiatus as officials began planning for the fall semester due to “health and safety concerns.”

“The challenges we face in maintaining social distances, staffing our lab spaces and studios and performing the requisite deep cleaning required to keep all our faculty, students and staff safe make this necessary,” Rice said in an email. “The demands are such that we cannot continue to run the continuing education program at this particular time.”

She said officials hope to resume continuing education courses in fall 2021. She said faculty and staff involved in the program are part time, who teach “semester to semester.”

“We have a cadre of very dedicated faculty who teach continuing education classes every semester and students who attend them,” Rice said.

She said officials do not plan to put any additional Corcoran programs on hiatus.