By Luis Quintanilla
In the wake of the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus spreading around the globe, classes at Volunteer State Community College have been cancelled from March 16-21 at all its locations. In an notification sent out to students via email and text, the college announced classes would cancelled the week after spring break. It stated, “Majors changes to follow.” The email also contained link to more information of the closing.
The closing applies to all classes, including online classes. All events are cancelled as well. Faculty and staff will still report these days, and will meet Monday at campus at 8:30. The link states the campus’ offices at all locations will be closed March 16 for planning, but reopened for students and the public on March 17 for normal business hours.
According to the page, several in-person classes will turn to an online only format starting March 23, and students should check their Vol State email and elearn at least once a day for more information on these changes and any updates. The page states some labs will meet with extra precautions.
The statement by Vol States says it does not know how long this change will last, it will depend on public health.
However, Vol State, in its statement, encourages students to continue with plans for priority registration for the Summer and Fall semesters. It states currents student priority registration will still open April 6 and 7 on DegreeWorks on students’ My Vol State portal. Students considering college in the summer and fall should still apply as the application process will continue as normal.
Vol State is just one of several schools reacting to the spread of the coronavirus in the United States and globally. Vanderbilt, UT Knoxville, Johnson University among others have all cancelled classes in response to the virus as well. Vanderbilt has cancelled it classes for the rest of the semester while the others have done so for a couple of weeks.
According to the TN department of health, the state has 18 confirmed cases of the virus. Globally, the count is around 125,000 with 4,600 deaths. On Wednesday March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
That same night, President Donald Trump issued a travel ban to Europe for 30 days in an address to the nation, and the NBA suspended its season due to the virus as well.
For more information on COVID-19, updates and tips for the general public and what one can do to slow the spread visit the World Health Organization website at https://www.who.int
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