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The past few months have been anything but conventional for our college community.
Thank you so much for your continued commitment, compassion and collaboration through all the challenges we have faced.
As everything remains in a constant state of change, we at Morton College remain committed to providing a safe, inclusive, engaging and dynamic environment for all students to achieve their academic and personal aspirations.
We would like to share the details of our Fall reopening with you today. We are fully invested in our community’s success, and our goal is to provide you with an academic experience that reflects the very best of Morton, just as we have throughout our long history. To that end, a small campus community like ours has its advantages—it allows us to be agile, to communicate quickly and to utilize our facilities in creative ways.
We’ve incorporated each of these strengths into a reopening plan developed by our COVID-19 task force, in collaboration with faculty, staff across campus, and our college’s leadership.
After careful consideration and following the guidance of our local and state authorities, we have made the decision to begin Fall semester classes with a variety of course delivery options:
“On-Campus”
Courses offered on campus with enrollment limited to 10 students to ensure safe distancing.
“Hybrid”
Courses that have a regular on-campus component (usually on a weekly basis and often during the lab portion of class) as well as a regular “on a schedule” or “anytime” online component.
“On-a-Schedule” Online
A blend of scheduled online class meetings held via live videoconference (Blackboard Collaborate) in addition to “anytime” online coursework. All scheduled online meetings will take place during official, published class days and times. Scheduled online meetings will also be advertised on the course’s syllabus. Students can meet with the instructor virtually during scheduled office hours.
“Anytime” Online
Classes are taught online with no regular online meeting times; coursework is all, or nearly all, asynchronous. Students meet with the instructor virtually during scheduled office hours (via Blackboard Collaborate videoconferencing).
As we look towards the Fall, it is important to remember that the COVID-19 pandemic remains prevalent around the nation and world. We cannot promise that we will not have positive cases on our campus this semester, but we are committed to undertaking efforts intended to create as safe an environment as feasible for students, faculty and staff. We each have a shared responsibility to follow best practices, including wearing a mask at all times, safe hygiene and physical distancing. Anything less may alter the trajectory of the semester and result in an unfortunate change of plans.
Preparing for Our Community’s Health and Well-Being
As indicated earlier, this is truly a collective campus effort in which each one of us has a role to play. We are a selfless community that looks out for one another.
- Basic PPE (personal protective equipment) will be provided to all students upon their arrival.
- There will be some upgrades to our physical spaces as well. Special signage and markers will make sure that physical distancing is top of mind, and plexiglass barriers are installed in areas where a higher level of face-to-face interaction occurs.
- We worked with Paisans on dining experiences that respect physical distancing and discourage the shared use of food stations and other services.
- Similarly, we coordinated an aggressive campus cleaning plan with our Facilities Department. While every academic building, bathrooms, office environment and every in-season athletic area are cleaned daily, it is important once again to emphasize our shared commitment to hygiene and cleanliness. We must all do our part. It will be expected that students and employees regularly clean their personal belongings and office spaces.
- Se proporcionará EPP básico (equipo de protección personal) a todos los estudiantes a su llegada.
- También habrá algunas mejoras en nuestros espacios físicos. La señalización y los marcadores especiales asegurarán de que el distanciamiento físico sea lo más importante, y barreras de plexiglás instaladas en áreas donde se produce un mayor nivel de interacción cara a cara.
- Trabajamos con “Paisans” en opciones para comer, que respetan el distanciamiento físico y desalientan el uso compartido de estaciones de alimentos y otros servicios.