Grand Rapids Community College administrators announced Wednesday that they will be closing the college and will only allow a “very limited number of employees” on campus for the time being in an effort to lessen the spread of COVID-19.
The GRCC food pantry will remain open for students who need assistance in that regard. Additionally, the college is working on providing loaner laptops.
“(Students) can contact the IT help desk to borrow a laptop during this challenging period,” Dave Murray, Director of Communications at GRCC stated in an email. “Students should call the help desk to check for availability, to reserve a device and to make an appointment to pick one up.”
Murray noted that GRCC has strengthened their WIFI capacity and are allowing students to park in the Administration Building parking lot to access the internet and “connect with classes, professors and campus resources” if they don’t have that ability at home.
In an email to students, the college included the additional following options for WIFI:
- Spectrum wifi access hotspots with free trial use as well as a free student package for 60 days. Call 1-844-488-8395 for more details and to sign up
- Comcast Internet Essentials free 60-day plan
- Here is a list of other possible options as well
GRCC President Bill Pink recorded a video message for the “Raider family” in which he urged students and faculty to be resilient and responsive in the face of adversity. That video can be found here.
“Being relevant and responsive means we are completely committed to providing our students the quality GRCC education they expect and deserve,” Pink said. “We are just as committed to keeping our students and employees safe as we face an unprecedented, evolving crisis. We will be innovative and creative as we provide instruction and services in different ways. We will come out of this stronger as a college and a community.”
According to the release, those who work in offices such as financial aid, advising and college support services will continue to be available for students as they are working remotely.
The college suspended “most” face-to-face classes last Wednesday, effective March 16 through April 5 after consulting with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and local health officials. They did so in an effort to “protect the broader community and ‘flatten the curve’ of infection.”
Editor’s Note: The Collegiate wants to know how classes and communication between professors and students is going considering this is the first week of distance learning. Please comment below or email Collegiate Co-Editor-In-Chief Brianna Wetherbee at briannawetherbee@email.grcc.edu to share your experience directly.
This story was updated at 3:06 p.m. on March 18 to include information regarding internet services from GRCC Director of Communications Dave Murray.
