Pasadena City College (Photo – pasadena.edu)
Pasadena City College, with 29,057 students and over 1,638 faculty and staff, is temporarily shutting down the campus and swiftly making changes to how instruction is delivered.
By Melissa Michelson
The entire PCC campus and its satellite locations will be closed to students and the public from March 18 to March 29.
What’s closed
The closure includes indefinite suspension of all performances, sporting events and sports training and cancellation of all events and meetings on campus as well as domestic and international college-sponsored travel for faculty and students. PCC’s monthly flea market also is cancelled.
There currently is no known case of the corona virus at PCC, but the City of Pasadena health department reported a case of coronavirus in Pasadena on March 11.
Remote instruction wherever possible
In her March 12 address to the faculty and staff of the college, PCC’s Superintendent-President, Dr. Erika Endrijonas, explained that the college will be switching to temporary remote instruction wherever possible. “By moving instruction to remote – or online, whatever is possible, we’re reducing the likelihood of transmission by increasing social distancing.” These temporary instructional changes are expected to remain in place until at least April 20.
Wherever possible, faculty are to immediately convert face-to-face instruction to synchronous and asynchronous forms of instruction and have been assigned new ConferZoom accounts to use for this purpose, in addition to the online Learning Management System (LMS) that has been available for faculty that teach online or hybrid courses. Professors will hold their regularly scheduled office hours remotely, either with ConferZoom, Canvas messaging or via telephone.
“Closing the campus is a very drastic step, and turning on a dime like that is not very easy,” said Dr. Endrijonas.
Laptop Lending library
In order to help students access their new online course load, PCC is developing a laptop lending library for students. PCC possibly will keep open a computer lab, but there currently are no details.
Child Development Center
PCC’s Child Development Center (CDC) will be closed March 18 through March 29. The CDC cares for the children of students, staff and the greater community.
Health office
The PCC student health office is providing in-person and phone screening to currently enrolled students. The office will direct students to off-site resources as needed.
Safety and reminders
> The PCC facilities crew is disinfecting doorknobs, railings and high-traffic touch points every evening. Hand sanitizer stations and wipes are available.
> The March 18 PCC Board of Trustees meeting will be streamed. (Click to access).
> Regular updates and FAQs can be accessed on PCC’s website.
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