By: Katie Priest

On Monday, Mar. 16 Chaffey College's governing board held an emergency meeting to consider passing a resolution declaring emergency conditions due to Covid-19. The meeting granted Dr. Shannon authority to take any and all actions necessary to address the situation. This resolution also added a million dollars in emergency funds to the budget.

Chaffey College was at a temporary closure status meaning that students and hourly workers, beside those working at food outposts and the library were off campus but administrators and faculty were still working during the extended spring break and the following weeks after. The decision to keep workers on the campus during a public health emergency caused some controversy between the workers and the board.

Many administrators spoke at the board meeting asking to be allowed to work from home, as many of them had K-12 children living at home and/or lived with the elderly.

Leona Fisher, an English professor spoke at the meeting stating that she urges the board "...that once you [the board] have made the determination as to how to proceed that you [the board] allow anyone employed by the district who can perform their assignment remotely, whether that's faculty, staff, or management to please please please allow them them to do so."

This was the plea of all faculty and staff at the meeting. Reporters spoke with Monica Han, the Chaffey College chapter president of CSEA (California School Employees Association) the union for classified employees at Chaffey College. "We are apart of a global community and if the district says that faculty and students should stay home for your health, we [CSEA] want the governing board to also say classified you stay home too."

The governing board decided that all classified staff will work from home, but all administrators, managers, and professional staff will continue to work on campus. The board also chose to add one million dollars to the budget in emergency funds. Along with these decisions the board chose to close all campus stores on the Rancho, Chino and Fontana, the Rancho Child Development Center and the Rancho dining commons.

So how will these decisions affect students?

On March 18, Dr, Shannon sent another email out to students stating: "On March 30, 2020, nearly all Chaffey College classes will be taught in an online format. Any class switched to online format will no longer be held on campus. Please look for an email from your instructors by March 27 with specific information on your classes and next steps."

There is also the issue of lab classes that are required for almost all students. Dr. Shannon sent another update email on March 20, updating students on what will happen as Chaffey transitions to online only instruction. The email laid out more in-depth plans for rest of the semester and specialty classes like labs. Stating that

All labs and activity courses that cannot be transitioned to remote delivery will be cancelled. Registered students will be notified on how this impacts them.
The Chaffey College home page is being rebuilt to be more user friendly to students as they prepare to move to remote instruction.
The College is working to distribute 1,000 Chromebooks to students in need over the next two weeks.
Student Health Services will continue providing health and mental care services through a virtual platform through the end of the spring 2020 term. Information on how to access these services will be sent to students.
All federal work-study students will continue to be paid through their award allocations. All other student workers will be notified regarding a payment that we expect to be disbursed in April.

These are some of the biggest changes that will affect students, so be sure to check canvas and your student email for updates on your classes. If need any support services they are available online through the Chaffey website. These new changes most likely indicate students will not return to campus for the remainder of the semester. This will present some challenges for the rest of the semester but, remember to reach out to professors if any help is needed with any of classes.

Chaffey College State of Emergency