Dear Faculty,

A few important updates –

With the “Stay At Home” order from the governor and mayor last night, there will not be access to the campus for any employee other than essential personnel (designated as such by the Executive Team). If any of you need to get into offices to get files, books, equipment, etc., please do so by 5:00 today after which you will not have access. Please do not stay on campus; collect your items and return home.  Thank you. 

A webinar with the Chancellor’s Office was held this morning. They are asking us to “temporarily suspend” the classes that are particularly difficult to move remotely (e.g., some of the Trades, lab classes in the Arts, etc.) rather than cancel or stop them. While some students may ask for withdrawals that do not impact their academic standing (which will probably be granted), some students want to be given credit for what they have done and be given the opportunity to complete later. Information is expected later today from the Chancellor’s Office about these kinds of issues. They also said that they are trying to collect resources to help some of these classes stay remote at least for a while after which we will reassess. We are asking that you do what you can do to continue instruction at least for a while. This may include videos, demonstrations, etc. We are asking you to be creative and to problem solve as best as possible. We understand that at some point hands-on instruction will be necessary for some of these classes. 

Please do not send communications to students saying that classes are over or canceled. This has yet to be definitively determined. If you have sent such an email, please send a follow up that we are actively researching ways to continue to keep classes going for as long as possible as well as looking at possibly providing “Incomplete” grades to allow students to finish later.

We will be working on language for the “suspended” classes, including changing them to reflect the term “temporarily suspended.” 

We will be in touch with more information as soon as it is available.