March 24 COVID-19 employee update

Posted: March 24, 2020


Good morning everyone,

Over the past few weeks, great strides have been made to convert our classes to online delivery, and transition our employees to offsite, work from home. Classes will resume April 6th, and we will continue to work very hard to ensure that our students have what they need to finish online and on time, with limited incompletes and no withdrawals. Our campus buildings may be closed to the public, but we are open digitally to all.

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be at the top of all our minds, please know that we are actively monitoring updates from the CDC, state, and county to help us manage this unprecedented situation. At this time, we do not anticipate a return to normal working operations before the end of the spring semester. Therefore, based on the most recent guidance, we have decided to extend the closure of all campus buildings through the end of the spring semester or until further notice.

We want to be responsible and respectful citizens in doing our part to limit the spread of the virus within our community. It’s critically important we do what we can to help flatten the curve. The following will be in effect for all employees starting Wednesday, March 25:

1. Extend the plan you enacted with your area supervisor to cover the work of your office/program, through May 11 or until further notice.

2. Employees may only be on campus for limited work-related purposes only. Please do not come to campus without prior approval from your supervisory Vice President or the President.

3. Take care of yourselves and your family; your health and safety are of the utmost importance. Your colleagues have spent some time putting together some amazing resources for you to use while you are away from campus. Take advantage!

4. At the end of this note, I will provide some suggested language for you to use for out-of-office email auto-response if you wish, as well as a script for what we suggest you record on your voicemail.

5. All employees should be ready and prepared to return to work at any time should the situation change and conditions allow.

6. Weekly all employee COVID-19 briefings will be provided via Zoom on Thursdays at 11 am (at least through May 11).

While this is a challenging time in our history, we will get through this together. I’m very proud of how we’re handling it so far and all that we’ve accomplished in a very short time. We got this!

Stefani Hicswa, Ph.D.
President

Recommended Email Auto Response: 
Thank you for your message. In response to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, NWC employees are currently working remotely. Though you may experience a delay in response time, we are committed to providing you the same level of excellent customer service. I appreciate your understanding.

Recommended Voicemail Message: 
Hello, you have reached (insert your name) at Northwest College. Thank you for your call. At this time, I am working remotely, and it may impact my response time to your message. I appreciate your call and will respond to you as soon as possible.