SF Faculty and Staff Making Final Preparations for the Start of Online Classes Monday, March 16

March 15, 2020

March 15, 2020 – Santa Fe College has been preparing all weekend to provide classes online beginning Monday, March 16, 2020. The online format of classes will continue through at least March 30, 2020. Each professor has been instructed to contact students in each of their classes by Monday, March 16. Faculty will explain that (with very few exceptions) face-to-face class meetings will be conducted over the internet through at least March 30. It might take a day or two for instruction to commence meaningfully online, that is ok, but quick contact should be established by Monday to prevent confusion.

The Northwest Campus and all SF centers will be open and staffed as usual and will continue to provide student services. The College will continue to remain operational so long as it is safe and based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, the Florida Department of Health and local health agencies.

College officials are aware that all K-12 schools will be closed through March 30. The college will support employees while maintaining the continuity of services to our students, and will be working diligently to create options and communicate those as soon as possible.

The Centers of Academic Technologies (CAT) held open labs all weekend for faculty to get the training they needed to prepare online delivery of their course materials.

Students who are transitioning to online classes and are having difficulty connecting can contact the Santa Fe College Help Desk by calling 352-395-5999 or help.desk@sfcollege.edu.

The SF Help Desk will be available beginning Monday at 8 a.m. and will be open through midnight each day.

The college is also very concerned for our students who may become even more economically vulnerable as a result of closings and cancelations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. SF has an online Emergency Aid page which offers many services including information on financial, food, clothing and other resources students may encounter as a result of businesses and services closing or becoming less available as a result of the pandemic.

The college leadership team is continually monitoring this situation as it evolves and will respond with measures that are in the best interest of our college, our community and our society. Please continue to monitor our Santa Fe College website at sfcollege.edu/COVID19 for official updates. The COVID19 page also has a section of frequently asked questions and a list of events and closures involving the college.

Important Resources include:

• The Centers for Disease Control
• The Florida Department of Health
• Alachua County's 311 – Critical Information Hotline