NIACC campus closing to general public

Story updated at 11:00

Listen to our full interview with NIACC president Steve Schulz

 

MASON CITY — The North Iowa Area Community College main campus and all NIACC centers are being closed to the general public as part of the State of Public Health Disaster Emergency declaration. A limited number of staff will continue to work on campus to maintain business and educational continuity, but the majority of the staff and faculty will begin working from home starting on Monday.

Starting on Monday, all face-to-face classes, including labs and hands-on courses, will be suspended until April 13th, but those classes will be moved online as possible to allow students to complete those classes.

NIACC president Steve Schulz says they are making the best decisions possible for the safety of students and staff.   “We’re just we’re just trying to react and keep our people as safe as we can and yet continue the quality of education that our students expect and deserve.”

Schulz the college will try to deal with what’s happening and move forward the best ways possible.  “That’s the kicker for all of us as we get to this new normal is how do we start thinking about how do we get back to where we were? We’re going to make that shift here pretty quickly at the college, trying to get some additional classes out there for students for online this summer. I’m sure some students are going to have to leave their educational path and get back, and then prepare for college for fall. We don’t know what fall will look like, so we’re really encouraging students to make sure locally here that they get registered at NIACC if they want to come and in case they need to be local again. It’s just through a lot of unknowns right now.”

 

For more details on the NIACC campus closure,see below:

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2020

NIACC Media Advisory

NIACC CLOSING CAMPUS IN EFFORT TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY FROM CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

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In light of the State of Public Health Disaster Emergency declaration by Governor Kim Reynolds, NIACC has decided to close the main campus and all NIACC centers to the general public. A limited number of staff will continue to work on campus to maintain business and educational continuity but the majority of staff and faculty will begin working at home effective Monday, March 23.

The current plan, which is subject to change, includes:

• Beginning Monday, March 23, all face-to-face classes, including labs and hands-on courses, will be suspended until April 13. However, to the extent possible, those classes will be moved online to allow students will be able to complete their current classes. Instructors will be reaching out to current students with more information.
• Classes that have moved online, will remain online until at least April 13.
• Continuing Education classes are suspended until April 13.
• All college buildings and locations will close their doors on Friday, March 20, 2020 at 4:00p.m. to everyone except for those identified employees needed on-campus to perform specific in-person tasks required to maintain business and educational continuity, and the safety of the campus from March 20 through April 13.
• All events, including Performing Arts events, scheduled to be held at NIACC are cancelled until further notice.
• The Pappajohn Center will continue to serve as a resource for local businesses, however all contacts will occur online. Updates will be posted on their website and Facebook page.

Although the majority of NIACC’s faculty and staff will not be on campus, they will be available to students, prospective students, businesses, and the wide variety of people that rely on NIACC for education and services. Phone lines have been rerouted, and staff are available via the phone, email, and Zoom calls.

Students will have full access to their instructors via the telephone and email, as well as through their online class software. All offices, such as advising, financial aid, and the business office will be reachable via the telephone and email.  It is important to reiterate the college is still operating and providing educational instruction via an online format and is serving NIACC students.

The admissions office will be holding virtual office hours and virtual campus tours for prospective students.

The health and safety of NIACC staff, faculty, students and the communities of North Iowa is an absolute priority.  As always, NIACC strives to be an important resource to the community, especially at this difficult time. NIACC will continue to send updates and remain transparent for as long as the COVID-19 outbreak affects business-as-usual in our community.

We want to emphasize there are no identified cases of COVID-19 at NIACC. These measures are being put into place to protect the health and safety of our students, staff and faculty. Ongoing updates will be posted online at: www.niacc.edu/coronavirus . Questions from the public can be directed to [email protected].