Student support services to remain open as coronavirus concerns force classes to go online
Students gather in the Schauerman Library’s West Reading Room on Tuesday, March 10. The Health Center and the Schauerman Library are two student services that will remain open while in-person classes are moved online from Wednesday, March 18 until Monday, April 20. Molly Cochran/The Union
Student support services, including the Health Center and Schauerman Library, will remain open as El Camino College moves in-person lectures to online classes until Monday, April 20 due to coronavirus concerns, officials said.
“There’s a big difference between classes going online and the campus shutting down and I think people are using those two terms interchangeably,” Coordinator and Nurse Practitioner of the Health Center Susan Nilles told The Union. “We need to be accommodating for students, that’s the viewpoint of the administration here.”
Classes were canceled from Friday, March 13 to Tuesday, March 17 to allow professors enough time to move their lecture classes to Canvas, a course management system used by ECC faculty and students.
This comes just days after other colleges in LA County shifted to online classes including Pasadena City College, Long Beach City College and Santa Monica College and all nine Los Angeles Community College District campuses, a move that’s impacted more than 225,000 students across Los Angeles County.
ECC Vice President of Academic Affairs Jean Shankweiler confirmed during a Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, March 12 that student support services would continue throughout the month-long classroom closure.
Nilles said that she pushed for the Health Center to remain open because students paid for those services with their fees.
The Health Center staff will remain on campus as long as they are willing to work through the coronavirus pandemic in California, Nilles said.
During this period, services on campus including the Bookstore, Campus Police, Counseling and Financial Aid Office will remain open with normal business hours, according to an email by ECC’s COVID-19 Task Force.
To allow access to laptops and internet to students, the Schauerman Library, Math Study Center, Student Services Building Lab and Computer Information Systems Labs will also remain open.
Open student support services:
Admissions & Records
Bookstore
Campus Police
Cashier’s Office
Computer Labs
Counseling
Financial Aid Office
Schauerman Library
Scholarship Office
Health Center
Tutoring
This is a developing story. Please refresh this page to get the latest updates.
Editor’s Note: A picture was added to this article Friday, March 13, at 1 a.m.
Editor’s Note: Updated article Saturday, March 14, at 5:29 p.m.
