President Andrew T. Hsu sent the following message to College of Charleston faculty and staff on March 15, 2020:
Dear Faculty and Staff:
OnโฏSunday, March 15, in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster orderedโฏthe closure of the stateโs k-12 schools and public universities for the next two weeks and encouraged the use of distance education to maintain a learning environment. We had previously announced a distance education plan throughย Marchย 27,ย andย tonightย weย areย extendingย thatย toย at least April 3.
College staff are currently working with state officials in Columbia toย coordinateย the Collegeโsย business and academic continuity plans. For tomorrow, while weย work out further details, only essentialย employeesย will report to campus. Supervisors should contact their employees to communicate which staff members are considered essential or not in this situation. All employees should monitor their email throughout the day tomorrow for further guidance aboutย respectiveย work schedulesย goingย forward.
Given the governorโsย directiveย to move to virtual instruction, this week is critical in preparing for different scenarios for the rest of the spring semester, one of which is preparing for e-learning starting March 23 and another is being ready in case it is extended beyond April 3. In order to be ready for our e-learning scenarios, I encourage all facultyย who need assistanceย to take advantage of the Division of Information Technologyโsย online workshops and trainingย (https://www.eventbrite.com/o/teaching-and-learning-team-tlt-hd-18898685198 ) so that faculty members can transfer their in-person instruction to online delivery. NOTE: All in-person training workshops scheduled for this week have been moved online, and TLT will communicate directly with those faculty whose training has been changed. Based on the governorโs announcement, all College-sponsored non-essential domesticโฏtravel is suspended until further notice.
The previously announced cancellation of college events through March 29 has now been extended through Sunday, April 5.
The N.E. Miles Early Childhood Development Center is closed until at least March 31, per the governorโs order.
On behalf of the College, I want to thank you for your patience and flexibility during this rapidly evolving situation. I know anxiety is high, both for you and your families. As a community, we are taking these extraordinaryโฏstepsย in order toย prevent the spread of the virus and protect the most vulnerable in our community.
I want to remind everyone to continue to practice good hygiene (wash hands often, cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, stay away from others if you feel sick with headache, fever and/or have difficulty breathing).
The College will continue to provide you updates via the Cougar Alert system as well as through campus email. Please refer to theย FAQsย regarding COVID-19 on emergency.cofc.edu and stay tuned to local news for changing conditions.
Sincerely,
Andrew
Andrew T.ย Hsu,ย Ph.D.
President
College of Charleston
