I want to sincerely thank all of you for your efforts this week to keep our college operations underway, so that we can take care of our students and also take care of you. This is a challenging time for all of us. The most challenging part is predicting the future. We do not know how long we will have to adapt operations or how restrictive our lives will become. This is all unprecedented for our lifetime, and we are having to remain fluid and flexible with everchanging governmental mandates and recommendations.

To the maximum extent possible, we are putting processes in place so that college faculty, staff and administrators can work at home. We will still have essential services that will need to report on a schedule to be determined, so that college operations can continue. Each division is working with their staff to determine what those needs will be and to determine essential support. The vast majority of support services will be remote. However, we will still need to schedule designated staff to ensure that our basic operating activities continue. The cabinet is working diligently to finalize what those needs will be and how often they need to occur. We hope to have most of those protocols in place by close of business tomorrow. In the meantime, many faculty and staff have already been able to make that transition. That has been important to reduce personal contact for those who we still need to be on campus. We greatly appreciate those who are still on site and particularly thank our facilities crew for working diligently to maintain a safe environment.

We ask that all faculty maintain contact with their students to guide them through these instructional changes. As previously announced, the College has extended spring break for students through this week. Beginning March 23, all instruction, including laboratory sessions, will be delivered online or through alternative formats to the extent possible until further notice. We are continuing to work on alternate options for courses where that is not currently possible. IT sent a message today with instruction on how to use Microsoft Teams. That app is simple to use and has been a great alternative to face-to-face meetings for staff and faculty.

Again, all of your efforts are appreciated. Our aspirations are to make sure we can meet the needs of as many students as is humanly possible. To that end, we also want you to know that we intend to make sure every employee will continue to be paid. Everyone’s lives are being disrupted, and we do not want you to have to also be worrying about income. Your energies are better spent taking care of your family, our students, each other and yourselves. I will be back in touch in the very near future regarding future actions and timelines where possible.

Charlotte Warren, Ph.D.
President
Lincoln Land Community College