Dear students,

I am aware of the amount of information that is flooding your inboxes and your social media right now.  I do not want to add to your anxiety or your confusion.  Instead I hope to bring some clarity to the many questions and concerns you might have.  Because we are a state agency and we receive federal funding via financial aid and other avenues we must follow the guidance that comes from those agencies.  Sometimes this means that information flows more slowly than we want, and under the current conditions, is rapidly changing.  I ask that you be patient as we work through the many, many details of moving to an online teaching environment and the possibility of limited access to our buildings.  Please know that we have the best interests of our students at heart and will always do our best to make decisions that are respectful and supportive of your needs.  Your success is our number one priority!! To that end I would like to offer some updates.

Financial Aid Disbursement: Refund checks are scheduled to be disbursed on Friday, March 20^th.  These remain on schedule.  We have not determined if we will be able to arrange for on-campus pick up or if checks will be mailed to your address on file.  Please be sure that all of your contact information is up-to-date in MyGCC.  This is the information we will use if checks need to be mailed.

Work Study Employees: If you hold a work study position on campus and we are unable to return to campus, we have received approval from the Federal Financial Aid Program to be able to pay you based on your most recent weekly averages of hours worked.  You will not have to submit a time card and your hours will be submitted from a weekly schedule by your supervisor.  It is also possible that there will be work tasks you will be able to do remotely.  More information will be forthcoming on this as we work out the details.

Student Support Services: We are working tirelessly to move all student and academic support services to fully online if needed.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Library Services
• Peer Tutoring, Technology Tutors, and Peer Mentors
• Wellness Center Services – Counseling, Disability Services, and Learning Support
• Women’s and Veterans, Military, and Dependents Services
• Advising
• Student IT Help Desk
• Enrollment services including Admission, Financial Aid, and Registrar functions
• Virtual Office Hours & ways to stay connected remotely

Food Pantry: The Food Pantry will be closed until further notice. For students that currently use the GCC Food Pantry we are working on a plan that will enable you to pick up “Grab and Go” bags once a month from a centralized location. If you are not a current Food Pantry user, please email and staff will email you a Food Pantry application and register you to use the pantry. If you have any questions for the Food Pantry, please contact .

Technology Needs: We are aware that some students rely on the technology on campus to access and complete their coursework.  Going to a fully online format will present significant challenges for those who do not have adequate internet access where they live, those who do not own a computer, or those who do not feel confident in working in the online environment.  Though we will not be able to meet all the needs, we are working on getting additional technology (Chromebooks and Hotspots) for the student lending library to alleviate some of these challenges.  If you have family members or friends who might be able to loan you a computer please take advantage of that option.  We are working to increase our technology support and will work with interested faculty to have technology tutors embedded in their online classes as much as possible.  If you are in need of internet service and cannot afford it, Comcast is offering 2 months of free internet to people who meet some income requirements because of the coronavirus. Information can be found at https://www.internetessentials.com/covid19.

Commencement: A decision has not been made about commencement and I do not expect one to be made for some time.  We will have to wait and see how things playout in the coming weeks.

We are keeping the Health Alerts page up-to-date on our website and working on information pages that will have the most current summaries of the status of your most pressing questions and concerns.  This is not live yet.  It is top priority this week as we work out details and prepare for a shift to online classes.

As a reminder, the campus will be open to you tomorrow, Monday, March 16^th, but restricted to essential personnel for the remainder of this week.  That being said, unless you have a significant reasons to be on campus, I would encourage you to continue to engage in social distancing recommendations and stay home.  After Monday, campus will not be open to you until Monday, March 23^rd at the earliest.

If you have specific questions or concerns that have not been addressed in this email, please reply to me or send an email to .  Thank you for your patience as we work through the details of what is an unprecedented time in our community.  Please continue to check your email on a regular basis.  I will send another communication on Wednesday with any updates I have to share.

Be well. For real!

Anna

Anna Berry
Dean of Students