Dear Northland Pioneer College Students –
Today, President Vest announced to the College staff that, at the recommendation of the District Governing Board, we will be closing all physical college campuses and centers to the public, including students and employees, effective 4:00 pm tomorrow (Friday, March 27th). Your health and safety is our top priority, and with the outbreak of COVID-19 in Navajo and Apache Counties we believe we must do our part in social distancing.
Starting Monday, April 6th we will be moving most of our classes to an online/distance modality. Unfortunately, we may not be able to move all classes, and as a result a few (very few) will be canceled. Students registered in a canceled course will receive a 100% refund. No action is required by these students to receive this refund. Refunds will be automatically processed within two to three weeks of notification. After courses restart on Monday, April 6th, students who cannot or choose not to participate in an online/distance modality course will be granted a credit-for-credit tuition waiver, good for two years, to take courses at a time of their convenience. Students need to notify their adviser to drop the course, and request the tuition credit. The credits may take two to three weeks to process. Students enrolled in a late-start course that has not met yet may opt to drop the course for a 100% refund. Students need to notify Records & Registration to drop their course. Refunds will take two to three weeks to process.
Your instructors will be reaching out to you regarding your courses and the new modalities moving forward. If you have any additional questions, we would encourage you to reach out directly to your instructors and/or the appropriate administrator listed below:
- Arts & Sciences: Dean Jackson at rickey.jackson@npc.edu
- College and Career Preparation: Associate Dean Campbell at gail.campbell@npc.edu
- Career & Technical Education: Dean Belknap at peggy.belknap@npc.edu
- Nursing & Allied Health: Department Chair Zimmerman ruth.zimmerman@npc.edu
For those of you with limited WiFi access, we are leaving NPC WiFi on at our campus/center locations during the closure, and you may access both the student and guest WiFi networks from our parking lots. We recommend you sign in as a student rather than as a guest so you have access to more bandwidth for your online courses. In addition, if you have technology limitations, please talk with your instructors about additional resources or alternative delivery modes that may be available to you. Your instructors want you to succeed, so do not be afraid to ask them for advice.
Stay tuned for more information from our various departments (Advising, Libraries, etc.) and how they plan to support you during this remarkable time. For instance, your advisors will be providing interactive Zoom advising sessions, and your Librarians are going to serve as Virtual Librarians with online services and research assistance (including helpful video tutorials). We have plans in place to make sure your experience with NPC is positive. More information is forthcoming before April 6th.
At this time, we have canceled all student field trips, events/gatherings, and community education (non-credit) courses for the remainder of the spring semester.
We have also decided to cancel our Spring Commencement (and all completer ceremonies) for spring 2020. We are presently looking into some type of virtual celebration to honor and recognize the accomplishments of this years’ graduates. We will share more information with you on this soon.
Please know that as we respond to incoming questions, we continue to post updates to our webpage to share information with you and our community. For instance, if you haven’t already, you should watch this video on the spread of COVID-19. And, if you follow social media, you can check out Facebook videos from our wonderful faculty and staff who have messages for you. NPC is your college, and we are here for you during this pandemic. Please be sure you are taking care of yourself, and if you have any questions let us know.
Regards,
Jessica Clark, PhD
Vice President for Learning and Student Services