This email is being sent to all faculty and their supervisors on behalf of Instruction and Student Services
Dear Faculty,
Thank you for being here. What an incredible start to a school year. We wanted to provide you with some important updates regarding fall term.
Student Firefighters
The state of Oregon, our community and many of our students and staff have experienced extraordinary circumstances with the recent fires. While many areas are no longer on evacuation levels, many firefighters are still actively engaged in fighting or preventing these fires. The Governor’s Office is reaching out to colleges and universities requesting that institutions and faculty “work with students to ensure they can stay on the lines.” Since the college cannot identify who these students are, we have sent an email to all students encouraging active fire fighting students, or students that have been displaced by the fires, to contact their instructors if they are unable to attend a class by the 2nd class session. We are requesting that faculty extend grace to any student firefighters. We have also provided instructions to students that if they have other concerns or issues as a result of the fire to contact their advisor.
If a student contacts you to tell you that they are in your class and plan to participate but are fighting fires, then the student should not be no-show dropped.
We understand there may be concerns about students missing the first 20% of class. Below are a few options to consider as you work with these students:
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Work 1:1 with the student until the student catches up and then extend the final deadlines if the student needs extra time at the end of the term.
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Incomplete is an option if the student has missed the first part of the class.
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The student could opt for an exception college policy and to drop with a refund, past the normal date
Bookstore Update – How Students Can Get Their Books!
The bookstore was heavily damaged from the pipe breaking in Bldg 1 over the summer. Two-thirds of the store is inaccessible and there is very limited public facing access. As such, all textbook orders need to be processed online. After ordering online at bookstore.chemeketa.edu, students can choose to have orders shipped for free or arrange for an appointment to pick up their orders at the store. Appointments can only be scheduled for online orders via email: bookstore@chemeketa.edu. The bookstore staff do not have the capacity to accommodate drop-ins or appointments for textbooks that haven’t yet been ordered. They are working over the weekend to fulfill student orders. There is a 48-60 hour turnaround time for online orders. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Fall Resources for Students
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This Get Ready Checklist & Resources has been posted for students and we wanted to share it with you. This information, as well as many other student resources, can be found on the Fall Preview website.
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This Chemeketa Writing Center Fall Update contains information about student resources and information for faculty to use.
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More information for faculty about student resources can be found on the New Faculty Orientation Student Success Resources page. Please make yourself aware of these resources and refer your students to them whenever needed.
Winter Term Plans
As indicated in the all staff Winter Term email that was sent by President Howard on September 22, Chemeketa will continue mostly remote in terms of teaching and learning, with approved face-to-face labs. The college will be exploring some additional limited face-to-face services, with all health and safety protocols, moving forward.
Faculty Survey of Needs Related to Teaching Remotely
We want to be supportive of all your efforts in teaching remotely. In order to help the college support faculty in their efforts in teaching remotely, please let us know what you need as a faculty member to best serve students from a remote environment by completing this short survey.
If you have any questions about any of this information please contact your Dean.
Thank you,
Instruction and Student Services
Jim Eustrom, Vice President – Instruction and Student Services
Don Brase, Executive Dean – General Education and Transfer Studies
Holly Nelson, Executive Dean – Regional Education and Academic Development
Marshall Roache, Interim Executive Dean – Career and Technical Education
Manuel Guerra, Executive Dean – Student Development and Learning Resources
Julie Peters, Interim Dean – Academic and Organizational Development