Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac and Niles is following other institutions of higher learning in ending face to face classes and other activities due to the coronavirus. Here is the message relayed this afternoon by College President Dr. Joe Odenwald:
Dear SMC Community:
As an institution, we value safety and student academic success above all else. At this time, concern for safety requires that we change the delivery of courses to an online format for the next few weeks.
- Beginning on Monday, March 16, face-to-face class meetings on the SMC Dowagiac and Niles campuses will be suspended. Class content will be delivered primarily via the Moodle online learning environment.
- Students should expect to hear shortly from their professors or academic deans regarding individual course specifics. Please be aware that courses run by Michigan State University and Ferris State University on an SMC campus may have different requirements or schedules.
- At this time, we expect face-to-face classes to resume on Monday, April 13 (after Spring Break), but this may change as circumstances require.
- During this time, SMC residence halls will remain open. However, visitors will not be permitted in the residence halls starting on Friday, March 13, until face-to-face classes resume. The Birdfeeder and Zollar Café will remain open during regular hours.
- Student Activity Center facilities (other than the Zollar Café) will also be closed effective Friday, March 13, until further notice.
- Both the Dowagiac and Niles campuses will otherwise remain open for business, and all employees are to report as usual. Individual requests for telecommuting will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Additional information for employees will be forthcoming from Human Resources.
- As referenced last evening, on-campus gatherings with expected attendance of 100 people or more will be cancelled through the end of Spring semester. A decision on Commencement ceremonies will be made in the next few weeks.
- We will continue our surface disinfection efforts around our two campuses and will be limiting temporarily the scope of any group meals.
I have the utmost confidence that by all working together, we can ensure safety and student success. I challenge our students to persevere in their studies, to utilize our extensive campus resources, to stay in contact with their professors and to “finish strong.” I know our dedicated faculty and staff will give their very best effort to serve our students at this time.
In spite of the unprecedented nature of this situation, I believe we will look back and see this period as one of great success for our College.
Onward together, Dr. Joe, President