COVID-19

Child Care Center:

Will be operating at normal business hours beginning Monday 3-23-20

Student Engagement and Success hours to help students:

Monday – Online/remote support for prospective and current students (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Tuesday – 8 a.m. to noon (open to public) – remote support for the remainder of Tuesday
Wednesday – 12 noon to 5 pm (open to public) – remote support during the first half of the day
Thursday – Online/remote support for prospective and current students (8.am. to 5 p.m.)
Friday – 8 a.m. to noon (open to public) – online/remote support 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

VGCC Open Computer Labs:

For students that have reliability issues with their Internet access or no Internet access; Open labs will be available on each campus from 10am to 5pm Monday through Thursday and 10am to 3pm on Friday unless further restrictions are implemented at the state or federal level.

Main Campus – Room number 7340
South Campus – Room number G1103
Franklin Campus – Room number F1124
Warren Campus – Room number W1107

Library Resources

Library books are available for checkout by contacting the library at (252) 738-3279 or via email library@vgcc.edu, if the book is available, a time will be scheduled for pickup. Access to reference books will be by appointment only. Online services are located at http://library.vgcc.edu.

Continuing Education, Workforce, and Small Business Center

Emergency Medical Services:

All classes will continue to meet as scheduled. For additional information, please contact Steve Barney at barneys@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3273.

Customized Training:

All classes moving to an online environment. For additional information, please contact J.K. Shearon at shearonj@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3433.

Apprenticeship Training:

All classes will follow the protocol of the sponsoring companies. For additional information, please contact Ken Wilson at wilsonk@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3259.

Continuing Education, Workforce, and Small Business Center

College and Career Readiness (formerly GED):

All classes moving to an online environment. For additional information, please contact Marvilo Gay at gaym@vgcc.edu or (252) 738 -3212.

Emergency Medical Services:

All classes will continue to meet as scheduled. For additional information, please contact Steve Barney at barneys@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3273.

Fire and Rescue Services:

All classes suspended until further notice. For additional information, please contact Randy Owen at owenr@vgcc.edu or (252) 738- 3448.

Law Enforcement Training:

All law enforcement training has been suspended until March 30. For additional information, please contact  Alonzo Jaynes at  jaynesa@vgcc.edu   or (252) 738-3263.

Occupational Healthcare:

All classes moving to an online environment. For additional information, please contact Elvin Curtis at curtise@vgcc.edu or  (252) 738- 3366.

Occupational Extension and Human Resources Development:

All classes moving to an online environment. For additional information, please contact Kyle Burwell at burwellk@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3276.

Personal Enrichment:

All classes suspended until further notice: For additional information, please contact Gina Brewer at brewerg@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3324.

The Small Business Center :

All classes suspended until further notice: Please contact Small Business Center Director (SBC) Sheri Jones regarding scheduled small business counseling sessions at 252-738-3240 or email joness@vgcc.edu .

Continuing Education, Workforce, and Small Business Center

Fire and Rescue Services:

Current Fire and Rescue classes will continue through the week of March 20.

All new Fire and Rescue classes scheduled to start today or later have been postponed.

Please  contact Randy Owen at owenr@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3448 for additional information.

Occupational Extension and Human Resources Development:

Intro to Welding: Class suspended through March 20.

Heavy Equipment Operator: Class suspended through March 23. Class resumes on March 24.

HRD Employability Skills: Classes suspended through March 27.

Serv Safe: Classes suspended through April 17.

HRD Intro to NC FAST: Class meets Monday and Wednesday evenings at Main Campus. Statewide options for online learning are being explored.

Curriculum Students

VGCC will be moving Spring Break to Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 20 to allow the college time to transition to mostly online instruction for the next several weeks. This means there will be no credit classes from March 16 – March 20. (See Services below for some exceptions.) Credit courses will resume Monday, March 23 in an online or hybrid format. More details will be made available next week. Please continue to check your email and this web page for more updates as the situation is changing rapidly.

Continuing Education, Workforce, and Small Business Center

College and Career Readiness (formerly GED):

Classes will continue to meet as scheduled, at all locations.  For additional information, please contact Marvilo Gay at gaym@vgcc.edu or (252) 738 -3212.

Emergency Medical Services:

Classes will continue to meet as scheduled. For additional information, please contact  Steve Barney at barneys@vgcc.edu   or (252) 738-3273.

Fire and Rescue Services: 

Classes will continue to meet as scheduled. For additional information, please contact Randy Owen at owenr@vgcc.edu or (252) 738- 3448.

Law Enforcement Training:

All law enforcement training has been suspended until March 30. For additional information, please contact  Alonzo Jaynes at  jaynesa@vgcc.edu   or (252) 738-3263.

Occupational Healthcare:

Nurse Aide 1 classes scheduled to start on Monday, March 16, have been postponed. An email will be sent to all registered students with the new start date.

Nurse Aide 1 classes held in partnership with Vance County High School and Warren County High School will resume when K-12 schools are cleared to return to school.

Current Occupational Healthcare (Nurse Aide 1 and Phlebotomy) classes will continue to meet as scheduled.

For additional information, please contact Elvin Curtis at curtise@vgcc.edu or  (252) 738- 3366.

Occupational Extension and Human Resources Development:

All classes, except Truck Driver Training,  will continue to meet as scheduled.

Truck Driver Training is suspended until Monday, March 23.

For additional information, please contact Kyle Burwell at burwellk@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3276.

Personal Enrichment:

Classes will be suspended immediately with additional  information coming this week. For additional information, please contact Gina Brewer at brewerg@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3324.

The Small Business Center :

The Center will remain open for clients and seminar participants. Workshops with smaller attendance will continue and larger program gatherings will be rescheduled. Please contact Small Business Center Director (SBC) Sheri Jones regarding scheduled small business counseling sessions at 252-738-3240 or email joness@vgcc.edu .

Services

• The College will continue to keep standard hours for business next week.
• The Main Campus Child Care Center will remain open at this time.
• Previously scheduled clinical and apprenticeships will continue unless otherwise noted via your college contact.
• Tutoring and computer labs will be available beginning Monday, March 23. More details forthcoming.

Upcoming Calendar Modifications

• March 16 – Board of Trustees meeting canceled
• March 16-20 – new dates for Spring Break
• March 25 – Career and College Transfer Fair postponed
• April 1 – Spring Fling South Campus postponed
• April 3 – Employee Professional Development and Planning Day canceled
• April 6-9 – original Spring Break dates canceled
• April 10 (College Closed) – Good Friday Holiday as originally scheduled

Spring Break has been extended through Tuesday, March 24th to allow our faculty and staff additional time to prepare to move instruction online. On Wednesday, March 25th, VGCC will move to remote instruction until further notice per the North Carolina Community College System’s recommendations. This means that our courses will be delivered in an online or “take-home packet” correspondence method. There are a few exceptions: law enforcement training, fire training, emergency medical and rescue training, nursing (RN, LPN, CNA), or other training specifically requested by public safety and public health response agencies, including the military. This also includes health care clinicals related to the above (either at a clinical site, if permitted by the site, or through simulation).

Our semester end date remains the same: May 11, 2020. Courses that can be completed by the end of the semester in an online format will end on time. If your course cannot be completed due to required in-person lab hours (for example: welding, cosmetology, automotive, etc.), your instructor will guide you through online portions that can be completed while keeping track of what cannot be completed. Once it is deemed prudent to offer in-person instruction, we will give you options to complete the remainder of your course. If that does not happen before the end of the spring semester, you will receive a grade of “Incomplete” with no penalty. We are amending our Incomplete Grade Policy to allow you through the summer term (and even the fall if necessary) to finish your course. We will be flexible and work with you to finish. Your successful completion is our goal!

You may be nervous about taking an online course. You might not have access to a computer or to the internet in your home. We realize this can be a difficult proposition for some. We will be posting resources on our website which will be available by Wednesday, March 25th. As long as it is deemed safe, we will be offering limited computer lab access by appointment to give you access to internet resources. For now, we will provide walk-in students services support during set hours which will allow us to clean and sanitize spaces to protect everyone’s health. We will also be providing chat and call-in capability with our staff to assist you in navigating this strange, new educational time.
Finally, some of you may be wondering about graduation. Our graduation ceremony will be postponed until late summer or fall. We believe this is such a special time – and we want to make sure we honor your achievements. If you complete all the requirements for your VGCC credential, we can issue completion prior to the graduation ceremony. This will help you as you apply for jobs or move on to further your education.
Please continue to check your email and our website frequently for updates, and we will see you online next week!

You have likely heard that the Governor of North Carolina has declared a “state of emergency” due to the COVID-19 outbreak. You may be wondering, what does this mean for my classes at VGCC? For now, VGCC will continue to hold classes as scheduled in most situations. This decision has been made under the guidance of the North Carolina Community College System, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Governor’s office. Because this situation is changing so quickly, we could receive different advisement in the future.

We continue to encourage you to wash your hands. We are sanitizing hard surfaces in college classrooms, labs, and communal areas on a more frequent basis. We are asking that all students, employees, and visitors refrain from physically coming to one of our four campuses if they feel ill or have a household member who is ill with symptoms that match those of the novel Coronavirus. We are limiting, postponing, or canceling functions or meetings that draw more than 100 people to our Civic Center or other meeting areas.

Students who fit the CDC-described high-risk group definition who have concerns about attending class should contact their advisor or Student Services for direction.

We care about you, your health, and your education. Thank you for you flexibility and understanding during this time. Please continue to read future messages, as Campus Cast is our best/easiest way to communicate with our student body.

On February 26, the Governor’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Task Force issued a statement about increasing preparedness measures for the COVID-19 virus. While there are still no confirmed cases of the virus in North Carolina, preparation is highly encouraged. Specific requests have been made of colleges and universities to prepare for the possibility of online instruction due to virus quarantine. To that end, VGCC is asking all students to do the following:

• Make sure you can log into Moodle , the college’s online instructional platform. If the college needs to convert some aspects of a regular class to online, this program will be used.

If you watch the news, you know that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus has reached the United States. While there are no confirmed cases in North Carolina, it is important that we stay aware of the virus’ migration pattern and symptoms. This link gives the latest update from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (PDF) .

What we do have in North Carolina is the flu. Both strains A and B are prevalent. The state’s flu-related reports are outpacing last year’s reports. If you feel like you have any flu symptoms, I urge you to “not share” with your fellow students and college employees! Stay out of class until you are fever-free. Faculty have been asked to work with students who are absent due to the flu by providing makeup days/work when at all possible.

Consistent with VGCC’s Pandemic Plan, we will give the College community updates on the progression of the illnesses and take certain steps that may alter “business as usual” if the need arises.

Thank you for your patience since my last communication on Monday. Circumstances and advice are changing rapidly, and the situation presented by COVID-19 is creating many challenges never addressed in our modern age.
I write to you today to give you notice that Spring Break will be extended through Tuesday, March 24th. First, this will give us additional days of aggressive social distancing by reducing the number of people on campus. Second, this gives faculty additional time to put courses online or create “work packets” for students. The North Carolina Community College System is supporting our action.

(Please see President Peter Hans’ press release here. https://www.nccommunitycolleges.edu/news-center/news/community-colleges-extend-spring-break-cancel-classes-and-move-online-instruction)

VP Brown and I will communicate additional information to curriculum faculty regarding our direction for completing the semester. Our goal is to complete as many courses online as prudent and possible while not sacrificing quality of education. Instruction will resume on Wednesday, March 25th in online format only. I will be communicating this to students and the general public tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th.

I understand there is concern for those working in-person at the College. Let me reiterate: if you fit the qualifications for the high-risk category established by the CDC, or a household member fits these criteria and you feel you should not work in-person, please let HR and your supervisor know. In the event that your role is not one that can telework, we want you to protect your health and your household’s health first. Record your absences and the reason why. We will sort it out later. As you have heard, the Federal Government is working on some relief measures. I am also working with our Board to determine options.

The Executive Team and I connect daily, sometimes multiple times during a day. We participate in a System-wide call every afternoon with our 57 sister colleges and their executive leadership teams. I have daily contact from the Granville-Vance Health Department. Steve Graham and I have been in contact with each of our county managers. We are staying in tune and in touch. I ask that you continue to check our COVID-19 update page on the website.

Finally, I want to thank you for your response as a college community. Your willingness to be patient and flexible is immensely helpful. Those of you who have questions or concerns have reached out in a professional, inquisitive, understanding way. Please continue to do so. We want to hear your concerns and suggestions. We are in this together!

As Spring Break approaches, we know that vacations will commence. Indeed, some staff have already begun taking vacation. In light of the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, the College will be instituting new, temporary measures for “return to work” after travel.

Currently, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that any cruise ship travel be put off until a later date. ( CDC Cruise Information ). Travelers from countries with sustained outbreaks will be asked to quarantine at home for two weeks ( CDC After Travel Precautions ).
As of today, the CDC is reporting 101 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 322 under investigation in the United States. States experiencing the highest outbreaks are: Washington, California, New York, and Massachusetts.

If you travel to one of the states listed above, or if you travel overseas or on a cruise ship, please check in to Human Resources prior to returning to work. Human Resources has been given a number to call in North Carolina to check and see whether or not a COVID-19 test is recommended for your specific travel. If you are quarantined, please check with Human Resources to discuss any remote-working possibilities. Where possible, the College will attempt to accommodate.

If you are experiencing symptoms, please call 1-866-462-3821, the North Carolina COVID-19 hotline.

This week, I’m not sending out a student email because I have nothing new to tell them. As you know by now, the State of North Carolina now has two confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID 19: one in Wake County and one in Chatham County. I want to assure you that we are taking the spread of this virus seriously, but we are also mindful of not adding to any panic.
To that end, here is what is happening:

• New hand-washing signs are being placed around campuses today (Friday) and Monday
• Additional hand-sanitizing stations were ordered earlier this week for placement. We are awaiting an ETA on this order.
• Students have been asked to make sure they can log onto Moodle so that they can get course assignments remotely in case of quarantine or absence
• We communicated that sick students should not attend class in person and notify their instructors of the reason for their absence
• We communicated that sick employees should not report to work in person
• Faculty have been asked to be flexible with their attendance policies in light of this precaution

As I stated in last week’s email, faculty should share with their Deans any concerns they have about attendance during this time. The Executive Team, Campus Police Chief, and HR Director will be meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss any new information about the spread of the virus, qualifying a temporary attendance policy, building out a potential quarantine situation response, and making recommendations about any upcoming scheduled travel for business.

Yesterday, the Governor’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Task Force issued a statement about increasing preparedness measures for the COVID-19 virus. While there are still no confirmed cases of the virus in North Carolina, preparation is highly encouraged/b>. Specific requests have been made of Individuals, Businesses, Healthcare, and Educational institutions.

To that end, the President’s Cabinet will be reviewing VGCC’s absenteeism policies and procedures and suggesting temporary alterations. In the event of an outbreak, we may need to alter the way we conduct class, such as moving to more online, temporary instruction. Faculty, please think of ways you can make assignments more remotely accessible for students who may need to miss class because of illness. Cabinet members encourage all faculty and staff to suggest ways to balance between quality instruction, attendance rules, and illness prevention practices.

Tomorrow, I will be sending a communication to our students advising them of the specific precautions advised for individuals, families, and communities to prevent the spread of respiratory illness. I will also be asking them to make sure they are able to log onto Moodle, as that will be an alternate method of instruction in case classes are canceled or if they need to miss class due to illness.

Human coronavirus is most commonly spread from an infected person to others through:

• The air by coughing and sneezing, or close person-to-person contact
• Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands

Symptoms may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus.

Symptoms of coronavirus may include:

• Fever
• Difficulty breathing
• Cough

If you have traveled to/from any of the countries with travel alerts or outbreaks, and have symptoms, contact a healthcare provider.

If you have been notified by public health authorities that you might have been exposed, please follow instructions provided by the  Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus. The CDC recommends everyday prevention measures, including:

• Everyone get a seasonal flu vaccination if possible. While it will not prevent the novel coronavirus, influenza is currently in widespread circulation, and initial symptoms can be similar to novel coronavirus.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home from school or work if sick.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, and for at least 20 seconds.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Don’t share food and drinks.
• Clean and disinfect shared surfaces and objects that are touched frequently. 

Stay home when you are sick. Do not report to work or attend classes if you are ill. Instructors, consider providing students with ways to complete work from home. This is good advice no matter what illness is going around. If you are concerned about your flu-like illness, call your health care provider for advice and share any travel history. Stay home, rest, and stay hydrated.

To prevent the spread of any respiratory diseases, the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  recommends you:

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throw the tissue away
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects
• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water

The proper way to wash your hands is for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating, after going to the bathroom and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.

Keep some basic supplies at home. The  US Department of Homeland Security  recommends that people should keep some basic supplies at home in case they get sick or in case it is difficult to get supplies at a store. Here is what they are recommending:

• Store a two-week supply of food. Select foods that do not require refrigeration, preparation or cooking. Ensure that formula for infants and any child’s or older person’s special nutritional needs are a part of your planning. Plan for your pets as well.
• Store a supply of nonprescription drugs, such as pain relievers, cough and cold medicines, stomach remedies and anti-diarrheal medication, as well as vitamins and fluids with electrolytes (such as sports drinks).
• Store health and cleaning supplies, such as bleach, tissues, a thermometer, disposable gloves, soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
• Periodically check your regular prescription drugs to ensure a continuous supply in your home.
• Get copies and maintain electronic versions of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other sources and store them, for personal reference.
• Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.

Make a plan now for how you, your household and your neighbors might need to adapt, rely on each other if there is a significant outbreak. Here are some things that could occur:

• Major events, church and community services and many businesses may be temporarily closed.
• Public transportation might be reduced or suspended.
• Childcare centers and schools may be closed.
• It could be difficult to buy basic supplies.