New River Community and Technical College President Dr. Bonny Copenhaver announced the college’s plan for fall 2020 classes at a press conference on Tuesday, June 23 at the campus in Beaver.
“We are open and ready for fall 2020 classes,” Copenhaver said. “We are keeping our original academic calendar with classes starting on Monday, August 17, we are registering students now and making adjustments to both our classes and services keeping the well-being of our students and employees in mind and continuing to follow state and federal guidelines.”
For fall 2020, New River CTC will offer classes in three formats: face-to-face, online and web enhanced face-to-face.
The college formed a task force to plan for both summer and fall 2020 classes in May, and brought students in technical programs back to campus to complete their coursework during June.
“We essentially had a trial run with bringing small groups of students and faculty to campus and working with our maintenance team to develop a process to sanitize the buildings,” explained Campus Director and task force co-chair Roger Griffith. “The system is working, and now we’re expanding the plan to serve a larger number of students safely.”
The college has looked at room capacity in preparation for fall and has made adjustments for face-to-face classes to adhere to social distancing recommendations and will be putting a shielding plan in place for offices and classrooms. Faculty and staff will be required to wear masks, and the college will limit the number of people on campus. All buildings will be closed on Fridays to allow the maintenance team additional time for cleaning.
“At a time filled with uncertainty, we want to be sure that those in our communities know that New River CTC is open. While we closed buildings in March, our staff and faculty have consistently served students remotely,” Copenhaver added.
The college is currently working on plans to bring staff back to campus locations prior to the fall 2020 semester.
For information on admissions and programs offered at New River CTC, visit www.newriver.edu, email admissions@newriver.edu or call 866-349-3739.