(Updated on March 18, 2020)
By Michael Piwowarski
UNIVERSITY CENTER – In response to the growing threat of the coronavirus epidemic, Delta College has suspended face-to-face classes in favor of online-only classes until Friday, April 10.
In an initial email sent Thursday, March 12, college president Jean Goodnow said to students: “There will be a three-day suspension to allow instructors time to transition to online instruction so you can successfully complete your classes this semester.”
The suspension went into effect Friday, March 13 at 5 a.m. The main campus and learning centers were to remain open for normal business hours, with staff and student employees reporting for work as scheduled.
However, on the following Monday, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the closure of non-essential public gathering spaces and restricted all gathering events to no more than 50.
As a result, Delta made the decision to close all buildings to the public. Lab classes, skilled trades classes, clinicals and studio performance opportunities are also closed as a result, and all events scheduled to take place on campus before April 10 have been canceled.
Notable events that were canceled include the Great Lakes Bay Job Fair, which was to take place Thursday, March 26.
No firm decision has yet been made on large events taking place after this time period, including the Employee Awards Banquet on April 24 and the Graduate Student Awards reception on April 28. Likewise, nothing has been announced about the commencement ceremony on Friday, May 1 either.
More details get ironed out
The Delta College board of trustees met on Friday, March 13 to discuss their response to the coronavirus outbreak. Board chair Diane Middleton, on behalf of the board, expressed gratitude toward Goodnow for creating “a good path forward.”
“My daughter is a student here as well,” Middleton said to the trustees. “She has lab classes, she has online classes, so I see it from that lens too, and I applaud you for all your efforts.”
In turn, Goodnow expressed her appreciation to the college staff for their response to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I’m so proud and I feel so good about how administration, faculty, staff, support staff, maintenance, our entire staff has pulled together to address these issues,” said Goodnow.
Goodnow recalled her days living on an Iowa farm, when farmers would come together in challenging times like when a barn burned down. She likened those past life experiences to Delta’s current response to an ongoing epidemic.
“Being a team is one of our values and we certainly have seen that demonstrated in the last few days,” said Goodnow.
Goodnow pointed out that, unlike larger colleges like Central Michigan University and Michigan State, Delta has smaller classes, where it’s even rare to have as many as 50 students in one class. She says this puts Delta at an advantage.
Jonathan Hoerauf, instructional design specialist for Delta College eLearning, was also at the meeting and said that training sessions for instructors on formatting classes for online learning were being held throughout the next few days.
“Our main focus of attention that we want to serve are the faculty and the students that are afraid of online stuff,” Hoerauf said about the training. “[…] Our training is assuming you don’t know anything, and you’re kind of nervous about doing it.”
More information, including frequently asked questions, is available at Delta College’s coronavirus web page, which Goodnow also referenced at the meeting. This information is constantly being updated, so it is recommended that students check back regularly.
Future board meetings being evaluated
“We are in a situation where there aren’t, really, any answers to a lot of things, and so we are having to be creative with providing our services,” said Goodnow.
The board also discussed how this will affect their regularly scheduled meetings. Trustee Robert Emrich made a motion that the board, along with the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA), make a petition to Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer to allow meetings via teleconference, in the event of a state of emergency. This motion passed unanimously.
On March 18, Governor Whitmer issued an executive order temporarily amending the Open Meetings Act to allow for public bodies to conduct their meetings electronically. This order is in effect until Wednesday, April 15.
Under the Open Meetings Act, meetings are otherwise required to be held in person.
Aside from any special meetings to be scheduled beforehand, the next regular meeting is set to take place Tuesday, April 14 at 7 p.m., which is after the period of closure is currently slated to end, but before the expiration of Whitmer’s executive order.
Delta follows suit with other colleges
On Wednesday, March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. With two coronavirus cases reported in Michigan, Whitmer declared a state of emergency. She has since temporarily banned public gatherings of more than 50 people and ordered all K-12 schools in the state to close until April 6.
Several colleges and universities in the state have also taken drastic measures to combat the spread of the virus. Michigan State University was one of the first to announce a switch to online-only classes, with several other colleges following suit.
