ECC to Instruct Online, Remotely After Break

East Central College will move to online and remote instruction beginning March 30 through the end of the semester due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to ECC President Dr. Jon Bauer, the decision is grounded in what is best for students and employees in an effort to help “flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19, and helping to ensure that our students continue to progress academically.”

ECC students will recess into spring break Wednesday, March 18. There will be no classes, online, remotely nor on the ECC campuses, this Wednesday through March 29. There will be no in-person lectures and there will be limited in-person instruction in labs for the remainder of the semester.

The changes impact the Union and Rolla campuses. 

“The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to evolve at a rapid pace,” Dr. Bauer said. “We continue to see the impact this is having both personally and professionally.

“Perhaps uncertainty is the only certainty in this situation.”

Dr. Bauer explained that he and ECC vice presidents met Monday morning to reassess operations in light of the pandemic, new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the local environment. 

“At this time, it is important to emphasize that there have been no positive tests involving ECC students or employees,” he said Monday. 

ECC faculty and staff will be on campus through Friday, March 20, to develop and setup procedures for online instruction. The campus will be closed for spring break, March 23-29. 

There will be limited in-person instruction in labs, studio courses, and certain career and technical education (CTE) classes for which there is no on-line equivalent. Those faculty with labs or studio courses should be in touch with their dean to plan for these limited in-person modalities. 

Students with questions or concerns should first reach out to their instructors who can utilize advisement tools, such as Aviso, to assist students. 

A decision on hold commencement and associated activities will be made April. 

Campus 

Campuses will remain open during online instruction period, including offices and other facilities, and operating normal business hours. Students will be encouraged to access services remotely as much as possible via phone, e-mail, Zoom, or other technology to minimize the amount of direct contact. 

For students who do not have access to the hardware and/or broadband necessary to work as an on-line students, labs and WiFi will continue to be available to students as long as the campus is open. The goal is minimizing contact as much as possible, while providing the necessary resources for students to be able to complete the semester.

In addition to making the campus available for students, administrators are actively exploring other options to provide students with hot spots or other WiFi access. If these options materialize, we will let students and employees know about these resources. 

Community Education

All community education offered at the ECC campus and offered by the college but at Mercy Hospital Washington have been canceled.  That includes retirement courses, senior fitness classes and community music classes. 

Partial or full refunds will be issued for the community education classes that are canceled.