[BLC] FW: COVID-19 March 18, 2020 Update
Carli Schiffner
cschiffner at sbctc.edu
Wed Mar 18 16:32:42 PDT 2020
From: John Boesenberg <jboesenberg at sbctc.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 4:25 PM
To: Amit Singh (amit.singh at edcc.edu) <amit.singh at edcc.edu>; Amy Morrison (amy.morrison at lwtech.edu) <amy.morrison at lwtech.edu>; Arlen Harris <aharris at sbctc.edu>; Beth Gordon <bgordon at sbctc.edu>; Bob Mohrbacher - Centralia (bob.mohrbacher at centralia.edu) <bob.mohrbacher at centralia.edu>; Carli Schiffner <cschiffner at sbctc.edu>; Chad Hickox (chad.hickox at wwcc.edu) <chad.hickox at wwcc.edu>; Cherie Berthon <cberthon at sbctc.edu>; Cheryl Roberts <cheryl.roberts at shoreline.edu>; Chris Bailey (cbailey at lowercolumbia.edu) <cbailey at lowercolumbia.edu>; Christine Johnson (christine.johnson at ccs.spokane.edu) <christine.johnson at ccs.spokane.edu>; Daria Willis (dwillis at everettcc.edu) <dwillis at everettcc.edu>; Darrell Cain - Pierce Puyallup (dcain at pierce.ctc.edu) <dcain at pierce.ctc.edu>; Eric Murray (emurray at cascadia.edu) <emurray at cascadia.edu>; Grant Rodeheaver <grodeheaver at sbctc.edu>; Ivan Harrell (iharrell at tacomacc.edu) <iharrell at tacomacc.edu>; Jan Yoshiwara <jyoshiwara at sbctc.edu>; Jim Minkler (jim.minkler at ghc.edu) <jim.minkler at ghc.edu>; Jim Richardson (jrichardson at wvc.edu) <Jrichardson at wvc.edu>; John Boesenberg <jboesenberg at sbctc.edu>; John Mosby (jmosby at highline.edu) <jmosby at highline.edu>; Joyce Loveday (joyce.loveday at cptc.edu) <joyce.loveday at cptc.edu>; Julie Walter <jwalter at sbctc.edu>; Julie White - Pierce College Fort Steilacoom (juwhite at pierce.ctc.edu) <juwhite at pierce.ctc.edu>; Kathi Hiyane-Brown (khiyane-brown at whatcom.edu) <khiyane-brown at whatcom.edu>; Kevin Brockbank (Kevin.brockbank at scc.spokane.edu) <Kevin.brockbank at scc.spokane.edu>; Kevin McCarthy (kmccarthy at rtc.edu) <kmccarthy at rtc.edu>; Kim Perry - Bellingham Tech (kperry at btc.edu) <kperry at btc.edu>; Kim Tanaka <ktanaka at sbctc.edu>; Kimberlee Messina (Kimberlee.Messina at sfcc.spokane.edu) <Kimberlee.Messina at sfcc.spokane.edu>; Kristen Jones (kristen.jones at bellevuecolleg.edu) <kristen.jones at bellevuecollege.edu>; Laura McDowell <lmcdowell at sbctc.edu>; Lin Zhou - Bates <lzhou at batestech.edu>; Linda Kaminski <lkaminski at yvcc.edu>; Luke Robins (lrobins at pencol.edu) <lrobins at pencol.edu>; Marty Cavalluzzi - Olympic <mcavalluzzi at olympic.edu>; Michele Johnson <mjohnson at pierce.ctc.edu>; Rebekah Woods (rwoods at columbiabasin.edu) <rwoods at columbiabasin.edu>; Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap - South Seattle (Rosie.Rimando at seattlecolleges.edu) <Rosie.Rimando at seattlecolleges.edu>; Sandra Fowler-Hill (sfowler-hill at clark.edu) <sfowler-hill at clark.edu>; Sheila Edwards Lange - Seattle Central (Sheila.EdwardsLange at seattlecolleges.edu) <Sheila.EdwardsLange at seattlecolleges.edu>; Shouan Pan (shouan.pan at seattlecolleges.edu) <shouan.pan at seattlecolleges.edu>; Suzanne Johnson (sjohnson at greenriver.edu) <sjohnson at greenriver.edu>; Terry Leas (terryl at bigbend.edu) <terryl at bigbend.edu>; Tim Stokes (tstokes at spscc.edu) <tstokes at spscc.edu>; Tom Keegan (thomas.keegan at skagit.edu) <thomas.keegan at skagit.edu>; Warren Brown (warren.brown at seattlecolleges.edu) <warren.brown at seattlecolleges.edu>; Wayne Doty <wdoty at sbctc.edu>
Subject: COVID-19 March 18, 2020 Update
The information listed below has come-up since yesterday's message was sent. It will be shared with the WACTC Commissions Additional information/details may be accessed through our Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PnHhItWpvNhUhhxrCq5LSzxjenmVS5nw.
· General Information:
o Governor Inslee announced substantial measures for Washington state businesses and worker, renters and other residents who struggle financially to pay utility bills during the COVID-19 outbreak. (See https://medium.com/wagovernor/inslee-announces-relief-for-businesses-workers-renters-and-more-in-response-to-covid-19-outbreak-c09c13a02690).
o WACTC March 23/24 Meeting - WACTC leadership has determined that the meeting and committee work would focus on COVID-19 issues. Committees have been assigned issues/questions to discuss mostly consistent with their general assignment. Efforts are being taken to secure a public health official to provide perspective on where we are at in the pandemic cycle in Washington State and what we might anticipate in the coming weeks - especially how it might affect spring and summer quarter planning.
o State Board is tracking down Canvas costs related to colleges' transition to a mostly on-line learning. Colleges are reviewing their on-line fees and asking the Instruction Commission to make a recommendation.
o A local Declaration of Emergency may provide additional flexibility, streamline decision-making processes and enhance coordination to address COVID-19 issues. The impact of a declaration would be determined by local policy/practices.
o Governor Inslee signed EHB 2965 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2965&Year=2020) which provides $200 million for the state's COVID-19 response.
· Employment Information
o Governor Inslee signed HB 2739 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2739&Year=2019&Initiative=false), extending the Shared Leave program to employees required to self-isolate/quarantine due to COVID-19 during the period covered by the Governor's 20-05 proclamation (state of emergency).
o Employment Security Department has updated its website addressing COVID-19 (https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery). The site includes their updated scenarios and benefits chart, emergency rule making, worker and employer Q&As. Governor Inslee announced a waiver of the one-week waiting period during a press conference this afternoon.
· Instruction/Student Services
o Colleges are or may start planning to complete spring quarter entirely on-line or through social distancing/enhanced cleaning for lab/clinic "hands-on" classes. This possibility may become clearer through information provided by our speaker at the WACTC meeting.
o More colleges have decided or are contemplating delaying the start of spring quarter. State Board staff will survey colleges to get clarity on:
§ Spring quarter start and end dates (compressing, shortening, mix of both by program, etc.)
§ Thinking around access for financial aid.
§ Provision of student services when most classes are on line and many staff working remotely
§ Status of library and related services during spring quarter
§ Thinking on commencement.
o Running Start. State Board staff continue to work with OSPI, Instructional Commission on getting clear guidance on how the verification form and billing will occur for spring quarter. At this time:
§ Tentative approval from OSPI on the process of enrolling Running Start student spring quarter without the high school guidance counselor approval on the verification form. Signatures may be received after K-12 re-opens April 27. The Student Services Commission will provide input on the draft process tomorrow morning (March 19) and a final review by OSPI will occur that afternoon. A draft will be shared with presidents as it becomes available. We hope to send the final guidelines by Friday March 20.
§ Plan is to have billing for March and April based on February's verified numbers. State Board staff is working with OSPI to get this in writing and will work with them to communicate this information to local superintendents. A draft of this guidance will be shared with college presidents and the Student Services and Instruction commissions as it becomes available.
§ OSPI indicates that classes that will be most in demand for high school seniors (not already enrolled as Running Start students) will be civics and English. Completion of these courses will be needed to graduate on time. Colleges may expect an increase in Running Start enrollments for these two courses.
o Online learning has been approved for international (https://www.nafsa.org/regulatory-information/online-coursework-taken-abroad-under-school-covid-19-policies) and legislation is moving to provide more flexibility for veterans participation.
o ACCT Law Alert bulletin for March 18 (http://now.acct.org/#law-alerts) summarizes action taken or contemplated by the federal government specifically addressing higher education, including:
§ Student Loan Interest Waiver - The Department of Education is instructing loan servicers to lower interest rates on all federal loans to zero percent. The policy will automatically apply to all borrowers with federal direct loans, federally held Family Federal Education Loans and federally held Perkins Loans. Borrowers whose loans are in standard repayment, income-based repayment plans, or forbearance will qualify. Under this approach, a borrower's monthly payment amount will not automatically change. Borrowers facing financial hardship can apply for forbearance. No interest will accrue for all qualifying borrowers. The waiver will be retroactive to March 13th, the day of the announcement.
§ Congressional Financial Aid Legislation specific to the COVID-19 outbreak. Includes $1.2 billion ($600 million for both fiscal year 2020 and 2021) in mandatory funding for emergency financial aid for higher education institutions. Other provisions in the bills to support higher education students and institutions impacted by COVID-19 include:
· Flexibility for institutions of higher education to ensure continued access to federal financial aid to help remove the financial stress associated with a temporary leave of absence related to COVID19;
· Waiver of Return of Title IV (R2T4) rules that would exempt students from paying back Pell Grants or student loans taken out for a disrupted term;
· Flexibility for calculating students' satisfactory academic progress (SAP) status to exclude non-completed academic credits;
· Allowing the Secretary of Education to exclude any disrupted periods from students' subsidized federal loans usage limit (SULA).
The site includes links to additional information and a FAA for students/borrowers.
· Education Technology
o Boyoung Chae<mailto:bchae at sbctc.edu> from Educational Tech /Open Ed is coordinating an effort to find and make available online learning resources and to post them to Canvas Commons<https://tinyurl.com/commons-wa> for faculty to use and adapt.
o Colleges are interested in expanding usage of Canvas Conferences, Canvas's onboard webinar tool. Currently faculty can use the tool but sessions are only stored for 14 days before deletion. Ed Tech is talking to Instructure about expanding usage and longer-term storage of sessions.
o Several colleges' elearning directors expressed concerns through a survey by SBCTC Ed Tech about increased need for video captioning during SQ.
o Training Opportunities
· Panopto: (video instruction platform) Creator Training 3/19 @ 10am;
· Zoom: TBD likely Monday, 3/23 but no time yet;
· Canvas: Alissa Sells is repeating "Yes You Can-vas" 3/20 @ 4pm
Information and access have been disseminated on a wide range of system listservs. Contact Alissa Sells (asells at sbctc.edu<mailto:asells at sbctc.edu>) for more information.
o Proctored Testing Update
· There's been a slow, but steady, stream of inquiries about online proctored testing. As expected, most colleges are expressing readiness for WQ needs and are expressing interest in what's available to help them meet new SpQ demands. Contact Steve Gance (sgance at sbctc.edu<mailto:sgance at sbctc.edu>) for additional information.
· Event Cancellations/Changes (Newly Added/Updated in RED)
* Dual Credit Summit, March 16-17 cancelled and being rescheduled for fall 2020 (Looking at October 5/6, 2020)
* ATL Retreat, March 26-27, cancelled.
* Dean Community of Practice, March session cancelled.
* Bridge to College meetings have been converted to virtual convenings.
* Guided Pathway Work Plan review, March 12-13, is converting to an online modality (details to follow).
* Annual Students of Color conference April 23-25 Yakima cancelled
* All Student Services conference April 29-May 1 Tacoma, Student Services Commission considering cancelling.
* Team Teacher training at Centralia College, March13, 2020, Cancelled
* COABE Conference has been Cancelled/Postponed (Originally scheduled for 4/5-4/8, postponed till summer)
* AACC has been cancelled.
* Council for Basic Skills April Meeting has been cancelled
* Intercollegiate Relations Committee (ICRC) is spring meeting cancelled (4/16-17)
* AEAC has been cancelled Spring qtr.
* Articulation and Transfer Council spring meeting (April 23-24) moved to Zoom.
* Spring ATL (May 6-8) has been cancelled.
* Faculty of Color Mentorship Program spring retreat (May 15) has been cancelled.
* Spring Math Conference (April 30 - May 2) has been cancelled.
John Boesenberg, Deputy Executive Director
Business Operations
360-704-4303; jboesenberg at sbctc.edu<mailto:jboesenberg at sbctc.edu>
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