Message sent to faculty on behalf of Assistant Superintendent/Vice President Jonathan Eldridge
Dear College of Marin Faculty:
Thank you for all of your work to get prepared for Monday. If you have followed the creation of the System’s 115th college—the online ‘Calbright’ campus—over the last couple of years you know it has been a convoluted mess. Meanwhile, you have managed to prepare for remote instruction in less than two weeks! This is quite the feat. And while there will be plenty of glitches, hiccups, and potholes over the next days and weeks, we will do right by our students and make it through this historic crisis, as long as we remember that while we are all under a lot of stress, we are in this together and all doing our best.
Today I am writing with just a few items designed to help you help our students make what will be a difficult transition for some.
Easy Web Resources
First and foremost, please have your students use this link to easily access what they need to be set for remote instruction: http://www1.marin.edu/continuity/learning-remotely . By Monday it will include a button for students to submit their questions/issues. Submissions will be read in real-time and responded to same day by staff.
The faculty version of this resource page can be found here: http://www1.marin.edu/continuity/teaching-remotely
MIA Students
Please keep track of students on your roster(s) who you have not heard from. Please keep trying to make contact this week, but for those students you have not heard from by March 26, please provide a list of those names and M00#s to your dean. We will then have staff reach out to each of them to determine their status and get them back on track.
COM CARE
Now more than ever, please submit COM CARE reports about students of concern, including specific needs students may share with you that have an impact on their success in your class. You can access COM CARE through your MyCom portal and a staff member from the CARE team will respond to you within 24 hours Monday through Friday.
Library/Textbook Needs
Because the library will be working remotely during the stay at home order (and possibly longer), some students will not have access to physical course reserve textbooks. In order to resolve this, we ask you please do the following:
- Ask your students if they are having trouble accessing the class remotely or need access to the course textbook.
- If students are having significant trouble with WiFi or access to a laptop, the instructor should report it to the dean to see if we can help to resolve the issue.
- If you have students who do not have a textbook or access to one, please visit the publishers’ website and/or VitalSource: https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/user/signin to see if they are offering free online versions, or online versions for purchase.
- To double check your assigned texts are available in alternate formats for students with disability related accommodations, please use Accessible Textbook Finder: https://www.accesstext.org/accessible-textbook-finder
- If nothing is available or if students need assistance with WiFi or paying for an online version, please send your dean the title, author, edition, and ISBN of the textbook needed and how many students need it, so we can work with the library to figure out a solution.
Student Accessibility Services
Our goal is to support you with any questions you may have relating to accessible technology and the provision of student accommodations. As we shift our practices, we want to make you aware of the changes, resources for support, and how best to reach us with questions, needs, or concerns:
- Effective March 23, all SAS Counseling will be provided remotely via Zoom.
- Until further notice, all in-person Testing, Tutoring, Technology Support, and Learning Disability assessment and testing are suspended and students have been provided contact information for remote support.
- Effective March 23, all Adapted PE classes are canceled for the remainder of the Spring term.
Accessibility Practices for Canvas and Online Teaching:
These sessions are in partnership with the CVC-OEI-@ONE teams and are intended for instructors teaching face-to-face and transitioning to Canvas to maintain instructional continuity. The sessions include quick steps to create accessible pages in Canvas by organizing content, adding accurate heading styles, tables, alt text for images, lists, and accurately captioned videos. All faculty are welcome to join and ask questions about Canvas and accessibility.
Sessions will be the following:
- Tuesday (March 24), Wednesday (March 25), and Thursday (March 26)
- Morning session: 10AM-11AM
- Afternoon session: 3PM-4PM
- Zoom Meeting URL: https://cccconfer.zoom.us/j/141190650
- Phone one-tap (US Toll): +16699006833,141190650# or +13462487799,141190650#
Again, thank you. If you need anything at all, we are here for you.
Jonathan
Jonathan Eldridge
Assistant Superintendent/Vice President of Student Learning and Success
College of Marin
Office: (415) 485-9618
jeldridge@marin.edu