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RBC | Over the last few months, we all have faced very challenging times. At CNCC we have worked hard to cope with the situation and still provide our students with the best possible education. As we have approached the fall semester, we have looked at and worked on several different scenarios. While many other colleges and universities have elected to only offer online courses this fall, we have chosen to hold school in-person and as close to normal as possible. We know it will be different, but we also know that opening our campus is important for our college, our communities, and our students.
We have been working with our local communities and health organizations on the best solutions for everyone. CNCC has taken steps to make sure that we have a safe environment for our students and that our communities are not in danger of having a spike in the number of positive cases when we come back in a couple of weeks.
Some of the things we are doing include requiring our students, staff, and visitors to wear masks when they are inside our buildings or when they are in a group that is outside where they can’t socially distance. We are allowing our employees to not wear masks if they are alone in their offices and allowing our students to not wear masks when they are in their dorm rooms. We are asking all people to self-monitor for symptoms, including taking their temperatures. We will have some stations setup on both campuses so employees and students can continually check their temperatures. We are asking our students and staff to stay home if they are sick and, for those in the dorms, to not go to class if they have any symptoms.
Our classrooms will be setup so the students can keep a safe distance from each other. When this is not possible in labs, we are putting in dividers between stations to add an extra layer of protection. We will be wiping down each room after it is used just to make sure that all surfaces are clean and are disinfected. In athletics, all fall sports, except for rodeo at this time, have been moved to the spring. The athletes will be able to practice and have a few scrimmages this fall. We do plan on the athletes being back this fall.
One last thing we are doing is setting up what we are calling the “Spartan Olympics.” Teams will be set up to compete in different activities throughout the semester. We are inviting community members to get involved in this and to get their own teams together so the students and the communities can get to know each other even during this unusual time.
We are looking forward to this fall and know CNCC will be going strong. We want to thank all of our communities and counties for working with us and helping us get back to “normal” this fall.
By RON GRANGER | CNCC President
