The Child Development Center will be closed as of today, March 20 at 6 p.m. until further notice.
Webinar – Managing Anxiety Related to COVID-19
Your well-being during these very challenging times is of the utmost importance. These are unprecedented times and the uncertainty around us, whether at work, at home or in the world, makes it extremely difficult to manage our anxiety and stress levels. To that end, the college’s Employee Assistance Program has designed a series of three webinars to support your wellbeing as you navigate the road ahead. Below is information on the first webinar in the series. This webinar is accessible at any time and is free. I encourage all of you to view this series and share with your family and friends, as well.
Free Resource: 25-minute webinar – Emotional Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Learning Objectives:
- Why outbreaks affect our emotional health?
- Practical skills to cope with the anxiety
- Talking to your children
- Tips for you and your family
Link: https://vimeopro.com/user65099910/emotional-well-being-covid-19
VPN and RDC instructions
Connecting to your work computer from home or any remote location is easy using VPN and Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). Follow the link below to see instructions to install VPN on your home computer, connect to LLCC network using VPN and access your work computer using RDC.
https://llcconline.sharepoint.com/IT/SitePages/VPN.aspx
As you will see in the instructions, you will need to know your work Computer Name or IP Address. Both should be displaying on your computer background starting yesterday. The new computer background will appear next time you restart your computer.
If you need help please contact the IT Help Desk at helpme@llcc.edu or 217-786-2555.
Practicing social distance with Microsoft Teams
Practicing social distance at work is easy with Microsoft Teams! Simply replace face-to-face meetings with web meetings using Teams. Links to documents with easy step-by-step information on getting started are included below (note: you will have to be logged in to Office 365 to access). All you need is a computer with a camera, microphone and speakers available. You can schedule Teams meetings using Outlook or start web meeting sessions on the fly with a simple audio or video call. IT is working to make the desktop teams client available in the Software Center for PC users and Self Service for Mac users to download and will push out the application this week to any remaining employee workstations. If the desktop app is not available you should be able to have full functionality in the web-based application in Office 365.
- Features of Teams and Skype
- Join a Teams Meeting
- Meet Now in Teams
- New Meeting in Teams App
- Schedule a Meeting in Teams App
- Teams Meeting Without Audio or Video Capability
No camera, microphone or speakers available on your computer? No problem. You can use Microsoft Teams mobile app with any smart device including iPhone, iPads or Android devices too.
- iOS app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-teams/id1113153706
- Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.teams&hl=en_US
Would you like to learn more about MS Teams? Here are some short video tutorials:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/microsoft-teams-video-training-4f108e54-240b-4351-8084-b1089f0d21d7
If you need help please contact the IT Help Desk at helpme@llcc.edu or 217-786-2555.
Virtual meeting on development of short-term courses March 23
The Persistence and Completion Taskforce is inviting all interested faculty to share best practices and learn from others by attending a virtual meeting via Microsoft Teams on March 23, 3-4 p.m. to discuss developing short-term courses. All who have an interest are welcome, especially faculty who will be teaching eight-week courses this fall.
If interested in attending, RSVP by emailing Kirk Yenerall (Kirk.Yenerall@llcc.edu) or Chris Barry (Chris.Barry@llcc.edu), co-leads of the taskforce, by March 20.
Writing Center to offer assistance to students via email
Because the LLCC campus is following guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the LLCC Writing Center will not be meeting any students face-to-face until further notice.
As of March 23 and until further notice, the Writing Center will be offering assistance to students through email only. We will respond to emails during the hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday.
If students need help with a writing assignment, they may send the document to writing.center@llcc.edu. One of our Writing Center specialists will review the essay and communicate with them directly.
As always, we are here to help you in whatever way we can.
– LLCC Writing Center staff
In the news
Economic development partners in Springfield and Sangamon County, including Kevin Lust, director, Illinois Small Business Development Center, are working in tandem to help businesses make it through the current COVID-19 shutdown. A new website will consolidate business information across Sangamon County to keep consumers apprised of the status of their favorite local businesses and their services in one, easily searchable, place. The website is SpringfieldZoom.com. Any Sangamon County business or organization can simply click on “Register My Business” to get started. This website serves as a one-stop information source for consumers to look up business openings and closings throughout the COVID-19 public health crisis.
Jolene Lamb, coordinator, LLCC Culinary Institute, wrote yesterday’s Epicuriosity 101 column in the State Journal-Register, “Game of Scones.”
Message from the president
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
New business hours
College business hours for all offices/departments have been adjusted to 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at all LLCC locations until further notice. The Child Development Center is currently open 6:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Practicing social distance with Microsoft Teams
Practicing social distance at work is easy with Microsoft Teams! Simply replace face-to-face meetings with web meetings using Teams. Documents with easy step-by-step information on getting started were emailed to employees yesterday. All you need is a computer with a camera, microphone and speakers available. You can schedule Teams meetings using Outlook or start web meeting sessions on the fly with a simple audio or video call. IT is working to make the desktop teams client available today in the Software Center for PC users and Self Service for Mac users to download and will push out the application this week to any remaining employee workstations. If the desktop app is not available you should be able to have full functionality in the web-based application in Office 365.
No camera, microphone or speakers available on your computer? No problem. You can use Microsoft Teams mobile app with any smart device including iPhone, iPads or Android devices too.
- iOS app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-teams/id1113153706
- Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.teams&hl=en_US
Would you like to learn more about MS Teams? Here are some short video tutorials:
If you need help please contact the IT Help Desk at helpme@llcc.edu or 217-786-2555.