An Important Update from Essex County College President Dr. Anthony E. Munroe
03/12/2020
Dear Essex County College Family,
As your President, my highest priorities in charting a response to the fast-evolving coronavirus threat are to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff while maintaining academic continuity and safeguarding students’ ability to finish their semester and protect their financial aid. I know that you are concerned for your own health, the health of your loved ones, and that of our communities. I also share these concerns and know they weigh heavily on all of us. In order to fulfill our mission and ensure the health and safety of our college community we are announcing the following steps:
For those who participate in classes on Campus:
Spring I Term
- Essex will begin a recess effective Friday, March 13, 2020 through Sunday, March 22nd. No scheduled courses will run on these days, except those of fully online programs and courses. This will allow Essex to prepare faculty, students, and staff to operate in a manner to appropriately enhance social distancing. Plans will be made to make up for the extra week of missed classes later in the term.
- Nursing and Health Sciences courses will continue as scheduled.
- Students should expect to receive email in their Essex County College accounts from the respective faculty with assignments and plans for remote instruction by the end of the day Thursday, March 19th.
- Starting on Monday, March 23rd, instruction will resume (i.e. face to face, online, hybrid etc.)
Spring II Term
- Spring II term will now begin on Monday, March 23rd 2020.
All Terms:
- The following classes will still be held on our campuses without interruption:
- Classes for students in Nursing and Health Sciences;
- Classes in laboratory or studio environments.
- The following student service operations will remain open:
- Library/Information Commons;
- Cafeteria
- Bookstore
- Computer Labs will be open with limited availability to allow for social distancing;
- Tutoring and Advising Services;
- Student Services including;
- Enrollment Services: Registrar, Financial Aid, Testing, Recruitment, Advisement
- Bursar
- Student Wellness Center and Food Pantry
- The following are discontinued:
- Study Abroad Experiences in China and Cuba
- Non-essential travel
- Gym/Fitness Center
Non-Credit:
- Further direction will be provided to non-credit by the director of the respective program you were attending and during the recess, assignments may be provided to you via on-line or textbook to keep you on track. If you are working on a certification, continue studying for your exams, and staff will keep you appraised of any new deadlines.
- Reentry students will follow protocols set by their halfway house and special schedule arrangements will be handled by Mr. Bert Shockley for students needing to access on-line instruction.
- High School students in dual enrollment courses will complete assignments via Moodle and can communicate with their respective instructors via their Essex email.
- Special arrangements have been made for Newark Technology High School students attending tutoring on campus. Please see your high school counselor or contact Mr. Corbitt at mcorbit1@essex.edu
Faculty:
Faculty with specific questions will receive guidance from The Vice President of Academic Affairs, Deans, and/or Chairs. Faculty will be asked to participate in workshops during the week of March 16th. After the recess, faculty must report for scheduled office hours. Faculty are asked to accommodate and be flexible with students and not penalize those who cannot participate in class due to illness.
All Employees:
During the recess, staff should report to work as usual. Essex County College will hold all full-time employees and part-time staff harmless, meaning those who are sick, or need to care for family members, or take care of children due to school closings can do so without penalty or impact towards paid-time off accruals. Such needs should be fully communicated with supervisors in advance and appropriate documentation may be requested. Despite this transition, all full time employees and part time staff, including work-study students will continue to receive their salary. All employees who are not receiving direct deposit are strongly encouraged to enroll in direct deposit to ensure their pay in the event of any disruption to business services. Any employee who require a reasonable accommodation to their job responsibilities because they are at a high risk of infection and complication due to Coronavirus/COVID-19 may apply for such accommodation with Human Resources.
Everyone:
- Non-essential gatherings and community events will be suspended until further notice. All Region XIX athletic competition for spring sports have been cancelled for the remainder of the academic year.
- Beginning Friday, March 13th, access to the College will be limited to Essex County College students, faculty and staff with valid Essex County College Identification and approved visitors. Everyone on the Main Campus will be required to enter through one of four designated entrances to the Megastructure. All other entrances will be closed.
- West Essex Campus will be required to enter through the parking lot entrance.
- The Dasher Student Center will be closed.
- The Child Development Center will remain open.
- All persons who have travelled or plan to travel countries with a Level 2 or Level 3 Health Notices (China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. See https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices) are required to observe a fourteen (14) day period of self-quarantine and monitoring upon their return and report such travel to their supervisor or instructor. All persons who are feeling sick should stay home and follow up with their medical provider to determine when it is appropriate to return to campus.
- These measures are challenging and may be disruptive of our regular routines, however, I urge everyone to be patient as we navigate these challenging times. I suggest that you take precautions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of yourself and those around you by following the CDC guidance at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
- As all plans may be subject to change, please follow the College for updates at: http://www.essex.edu/coronavirusalert/ and sign up for text alerts at: http://myecc.essex.edu