A Message from President Sheila Edwards Lange

Submitted by webteam_admin on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 13:07

Dear Seattle Central Community, 

 After carefully assessing the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in Seattle, we have decided to suspend in-person classroom instruction at Seattle Central College, starting on Monday, March 9. The suspension is planned through at least March 25.  

This message provides details specific to Seattle Central College: 

  • We do not have any confirmed cases of COVID-19 affecting any student, faculty, or staff. We continue to follow the guidance of King County Public Health, which does not recommend the closure of a school unless there is a confirmed case at that school. 
  • There will be no classes at all on Monday, March 9. Faculty will use that day to prepare. 
  • The decision means that classes and finals will no longer be held in person this quarter. Check with your instructor to see how your class will conclude for the quarter. We will make sure these disruptions to in-person instruction will not negatively affect your grades or academic progress.   
  • We made this decision as a sensible way to add social distance and minimize the potential exposure to the coronavirus by students, faculty, and staff. It followed our decision on Thursday to cancel public events at our campus involving more than 50 people. 
  • Our campus will remain open for business, including our library, computer labs, business offices, and the Mitchell Activity Center. Employees will continue to report to work. Where appropriate, employees may work remotely. 
  • We are restricting public entry to just one door on the Broadway side. All other entries will be accessible with a key card. Please be conscientious about making sure those doors close after you enter or leave.  
  • We will take advantage of the in-person teaching suspension to clean and disinfect all classrooms and public areas in our Broadway campus and our co-locations (The Seattle Maritime Academy, Wood Technology Center, and Health Education Center). 

Please continue to follow hygiene best practices established by the CDC for prevention, including staying home if you feel sick, coughing and sneezing etiquette, clean hands etiquette, and refraining from touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. 

For more updates, remember to visit www.seattlecolleges.edu/coronavirus. 

If you haven’t signed up for emergency text and phone notices, please do it now. Even if you have signed up already, access your account and check that your contact information is still current. 

 No amount of planning can cover all the possibilities, but please be assured that we take this situation very seriously, and that our top concern will always be the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. 

Sheila Edwards Lange, PhD 
President, Seattle Central College