By HARRIET RAMOS
Chancellor Joe May and Dallas College leadership announced at the March 23 Town Hall that there will be an in-person graduation for the class of 2021, students still need to make appointments for face-to-face services, classes will be available in three formats this summer and the inability to return to work option will be available through May 31.
Plans for the fall semester were not discussed.
Graduation
May said an in-person graduation ceremony is being planned, but the details haven’t been finalized yet.
Masks and social distancing will be required, and the ceremony will be livestreamed for people who don’t feel comfortable attending in person.
He said there would be separate ceremonies for each of the seven schools.
“We know the importance of graduation,” May said. “These students have worked incredibly hard to accomplish for what many of them just thought was impossible, and we really want to be there to help them celebrate this event.”
Last year’s graduation was held virtually due to COVID-19.
Student Services
The campuses are closed to the public and in-person services such as tutoring and advising are still by appointment only. Appointments can be made at dcccd.libcal.com.
Virtual services are also still available.
“To meet the needs of our students, we will continue to offer a blend of both virtual and face-to-face services,” Vice Chancellor of Student Success Beatriz Joseph said.
Summer Plans
Provost Shawnda Floyd said there would be in-person, online and hybrid classes offered this summer.
Classes have been primarily online since last March. Only a handful of classes, specifically some career and technical education courses that have hands-on components, returned to campus last summer.
“What we’ve been stressing in academic affairs is the need to increase our face-to-face and also hybrid [classes],” Floyd said. “What we are finding is that students seek the engagement not only from their professors, but from their fellow student colleagues.”
Hybrid classes include both in-person and online instruction.
Masks and social distancing will be required for in-person classes.
Inability to Return to Work
All Dallas College staff and administration are returning to in-person work April 5, but Chief Human Resources Officer Sherri Enright said those who have been approved for remote work can continue to do so until May 31. Working remotely will not be an option after that date.
“The inability to return to work process has been updated for the spring semester,” Enright said.
Dallas College employees began working remotely in March 2020 due to COVID-19. Campus leadership returned to their offices June 8, and the majority of staff returned to campus Aug. 3 on an A/B rotation of one week on campus and one week at home. Employees who are in the high-risk category for COVID-19 continued to work remotely.
