ESCC/AAC meeting student needs during closures, provides sports updates
Enterprise State Community College and the Alabama Aviation College are working to ease the transition to online learning for students, faculty and staff while sports faculty are preparing for possible changes in college sports.
Following a decision from Alabama Community College System on Friday, March 13, ESCC/AAC announced campus closures to students and the move to online instruction from March 17-April 3. On Sunday, March 15, Gov. Kay Ivey authorized state employees to remotely, prompting full closures for students and non-essential faculty and staff.
“All of our Enterprise State and Aviation College campuses will be closed from March 17-April 3,” ESCC President Matt Rodgers said. “While the campuses will be closed, our employees will continue to work remotely to serve our students. Only essential staff will be on campus on an as-needed basis.”
Both Colleges are committed to continue the delivery of a quality instruction to their students, even on an online platform. To help ease this transition, Canvas support is being offered to faculty and staff members at both campuses. Additionally, all students are encouraged to complete an online survey on Canvas to help ESCC/AAC identify those with technology or online education needs.
To meet the technology needs of their students, ESCC/AAC received special support on Monday, March 16, from Enterprise City Schools, which donated up to 300 Chromebooks for faculty, staff and student use for the next three weeks.
“I want to thank Superintendent Greg Fought and Brad Johnson and Stacy Rodgers with ECS for their offer of these Chromebooks,” President Rodgers said. “We appreciate their generosity during this very difficult time. We have and continue to maintain a strong relationship with ECS.
“This example demonstrates the sense of community and support that we have here in the City of Enterprise.”
ESCC/AAC faculty and staff will continue to serve all current and future students. Recruiters and financial aid staff will follow a plan of action to continue contacting prospective students while online tutors and academic support will be available for students during campus closures. Technology and Canvas support will also be provided, and faculty and staff are prepared to monitor all communication channels to make sure all questions and concerns from our students and community are addressed.
“Our goal is to contact each student from all campuses by phone or email to let them know that we’re supporting them during this time,” Rodgers said. “We will also continue to provide support to not only our current students, faculty and staff, but also our future students.”
For any questions or concerns, contact ESCC’s main line at (334) 347-2623 and follow instructions to reach the appropriate department. Students at the Enterprise campus and all other sites can also email enterpriseinfo@escc.edu with any questions. Students at the Ozark campus can email ozarkinfo@escc.edu.
In addition to education changes, the National Junior College Athletics Association (NCJAA) announced on March 16 that all spring sports seasons were cancelled, including practices and regular and postseason games.
ESCC Athletic Director Jeremaine Williams also announced that the athletic committee made a decision to allow third-year student athletes to return to their two-year institutions if they choose, allowing up to 145 waivers to each two-year institution.
Campus updates for all locations can be found at escc.edu/coronavirus/. Updates will also be provided through social media, email and Canvas.
Cutline: ECS donated up to 300 Chromebooks to ESCC/AAC to meet the needs of students while all campuses are closed. Pictured, from left, are ESCC President Matt Rodgers, Technology Specialist Stacy Rodgers, System Technologist Brad Johnson and Dean of Instruction Danny Long.