Update: March 19, 2020
Coronavirus/Covid-19 update as of March 19, 2020
A Letter to Students Regarding Resources for Online Learning Success
Dear CMCC Student,
On March 17, 2020, you received an email from President Knapp explaining that when courses resume on Monday, March 30, after the extended spring break, courses will be instructed remotely. This means that no face-to-face classes will be offered for the remainder of the semester. This was a difficult decision to make. However, understanding the need to limit the number of people on campus in order to help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, we made the decision to help protect the health and safety of our community.
You may have heard that social distancing is the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC’s) recommendation that we keep a distance of at least 6 feet away from other people in order to limit the spread of the Coronavirus. In order to follow the CDC’s social distancing protocols, we need to limit the number of people on campus, so please avoid coming to campus unless you need to access resources. If you are a housing student that needs to get your belongings, please follow the guidance issued in the letter from the Housing department. If you do need to use a computer once courses are back in session, there are computer locations on campus with social distancing precautions in place. However, if you can stay home, please do so in order that those who need to access resources have that opportunity.
Your instructors are working on their teaching plans and sometime during the week of March 23, probably later in the week, they will contact you about their plan for your courses. Please allow your instructors time to determine their teaching plans and be assured they will contact you as soon as they have information to share.
CMCC has put resources in place to assist you with the transition to remote learning. These resources include:
- A tab in CMConnect called “Remote Learning”. This tab is located in the menu that run across the top of CMConnect. Once you are on the page, you will see it is set-up with various resources in the left menu. This tab is where you can learn how to access virtual tutoring and other academic/student support services, as well as tips for using Zoom, which is the virtual conferencing platform many of your instructors may be implementing. There is also information about how to access your student email account and contact information for College departments, so be sure to look at the “Remote Learning” tab.
- Establishing an email address, studentsupport@cmcc.edu, so that should you have questions during this transition period and you are unsure who to ask, you can send us an email. Campus representatives are regularly monitoring the email account and are ready to help you. If you would prefer someone call you, please send an email providing your name, telephone number and the best time to reach you and someone will contact you. If you have questions about your specific courses, please contact your instructor first.
We understand you may be anxious about remote learning, particularly if you have never taken an online class before. Therefore, withdrawal dates have been extended. For full-semester (15 week) courses, the date to withdraw without academic penalty was March 13, 2020, however, we understand at that time you were unaware of the situation we now find ourselves in. The new date to drop without academic penalty for full-semester courses is Friday, April 10, however, the College will not accept any withdrawal requests the week of March 30 because we want you to give yourselves time to try remote learning.
The add/drop and withdrawal dates have also been extended for short-term classes that start on Monday, March 30. The last day to drop one of these short-term courses without record is now Friday, April 3. The last day to drop one of these courses without academic penalty is now Friday, April 24.
We also understand that many areas of your life have been impacted by COVID-19 including school, work, housing and childcare. Since this is a rapidly changing situation, please get in the habit of checking your College email daily to see if there are updates or new information. Please understand that the information shared in this letter is accurate as of today and subject to change.
Be well, stay safe and do not hesitate to email studentsupport@cmcc.edu if we can be of assistance to you.
