By Carl Blankenship
carl.blankenship@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – Beginning Friday, all face-to-face courses Rowan-Cabarrus Community College cannot offer exclusively online will be suspended in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is an expansion of the move made by the college to move most of its courses online on March 14 while keeping some classes that require hands-on learning, including labs. That was the same day Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order for all K-12 schools in the state to close facilities for classes.

The college says it also will also transition any remaining in-person classes it can online. “Minimester” courses initially planned to begin March 16 will begin March 23.

The change for RCCC will remain in affect until April 1, at least, with weekly evaluations about whether to reopened. Students will be given a week’s notice before classes resume.

The University of North Carolina System had already made the call to move classes online. Livingstone College and Catawba College on March 13 both made the decision to move classes online until April 12.

The community college is a public institution. RCCC Chief Community Relations Officer Sarah Walker said the order from Cooper to close public schools only affected grade-schools.

“The college’s executive leadership team has been closely monitoring this evolving situation and, in coordination with the North Carolina Community College System and President’s Association, we have agreed upon operating practices that prioritize the health and wellness of our faculty, staff and students,” said RCCC President Carol Spalding in a statement to the Post. “The college is proud to be a nationally recognized top 10 digital community college and we currently offer nine fully online degree programs, which has prepared our faculty well to transition many of our remaining course offerings online. We’re committed to helping our students stay well while we help them continue to progress towards their educational goals.”

The college has also canceled several events resulting from a 50-person limit mandated by the governor. That includes the college’s annual STEM Open House and the Rowan-Cabarrus Foundation Scholarship Luncheon.

The college will send out campus-connect notices with updates each Wednesday and has asked students to check their email frequently for updates from faculty and staff.

The college will remain open with “limited services.” According to a campus-connect message “is working with our housekeeping contractor to focus on disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces, common spaces and individual workstations.”