Covid-19 Archives - District News

FREE Public COVID-19 Testing Site Now Open Sundays-Thursdays at CSM

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Richard Rojo

The San Mateo County Community College District, in partnership with San Mateo County Health, has launched a drive-through COVID-19 testing site at the College of San Mateo campus. Located in upper Hillsdale Lot 1 at CSM, the site is open to the public and replaces the previous testing location at the San Mateo County Event Center.

Testing hours:
Sundays–Thursdays, 7:00 am – 7:00 pm
Through January 31, 2022

Testing location:
Upper Hillsdale Lot 1 at College of San Mateo
1700 West Hillsdale Drive, San Mateo CA 94402

The test is free but an appointment is required.

The tests are conducted with a nasal swab and results provided within 24–72 hours. The site has the capacity to test 1,000 people per day. Testing services are provided by OptumServe, the federal health business of Optum and UnitedHealth Group.

Special Hours for SMCCCD Employees and Students
Special time blocks have been reserved exclusively for San Mateo County Community College District students, staff, and faculty on Sundays–Thursdays from 10–11 am and 3–4 pm. These blocks will allow 96 District employees and students to be tested daily.

Additional Details:

San Mateo County community members must remain in their vehicles at all times.
Portable restrooms will be available for community members.
SMCCCD employees and students who are working at CSM or the District Office, or attending a class at CSM, may walk to testing site from their work/study locations.
SMCCCD employees and students must access testing site through Campus Access Point or Community Testing Access Point.

Make an appointment online:

Visit the Logistics Health COVID-19 Testing website
Select “California” from the dropdown menu
Select “Get Started”
Follow registration steps to create an account
Log in to your account
Choose a testing location
Schedule an appointment
Note: Appointments for children under 13 cannot be made online and must be made by calling the LHI Call Center.

Make an appointment by phone
Call the LHI Call Center at (888) 634-1123 to make an appointment by phone.

Getting Your COVID-19 Test

Attend your scheduled testing appointment
On-location staff will check you in
Staff will conduct nasal swab test and send sample to the lab
Notification will be provided when your results are ready and available on LHI.Care within 24-72 hours.

This information is also available on the District COVID-19 website.

Looking Back at 2020

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Richard Rojo

In this extraordinary year, The San Mateo County Community College District has innovated and pivoted to continue serving our students. Faculty and staff set up their home offices, reached out to students, and adapted courses to online format. Students, once again, showed their resolve and resilience in moving to online education.

Our students were already facing significant challenges in terms of housing, transportation, access to food, financial security, and equity in the classroom. The pandemic has only intensified those challenges. In response, the District adapted some student basic needs supports and launched several new ones:

San Mateo County Community College District Emergency Food Distribution
The District partnered with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to launch a Friday food distribution program at CSM. The program quickly reached its maximum capacity of serving 1,000 families per week. To date the program has distributed 1.2 million pounds of food, worth more than $2 million, to more than 27,000 families.

In September, Skyline College added a food distribution program on Wednesdays. To date the program has distributed 300,000 pounds of food, worth $537,000, to 7,500 families.

Emergency Food Card Program
Before the pandemic struck, the District had begun to distribute monthly vouchers for free groceries to students identified as having food insecurity challenges. With campuses closed, the vouchers are now distributed digitally. About 1,600 students have received more than $1 million in grocery vouchers to date. The District has funded another $1 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Housing
The District allocated and distributed $100,000 in emergency funding to students for housing during the pandemic and set up a case management system to assist students with housing needs. The District SparkPoint Centers have also built a partnership with United Way Bay Area to provide rental assistance to students. About 30 students received housing vouchers this fall worth $1,750 each.

Chromebook and Hotspot Distribution
Without access to campus computers and wifi, many students were left without the technology they needed to continue their studies. The District acquired hundreds of Chromebooks and wifi hotspots to loan to students. This fall, about 400 Chromebooks are on loan to students, as well as 422 hotspots, and 128 calculators.

Drive-Up WiFi
Students can now make reservations online for a parking space in designated wifi parking lots. Students work from their cars, and campus restroom facilities are available.

Telemedicine
Using secure HIPAA-compliant Zoom technology, the College Health Centers now offer free telemedicine appointments to students. The telemedicine clinics offer medical advice, tuberculosis screenings, lab orders, some prescription refills, evaluation and treatment of illnesses and injuries, and referrals to other providers.

Flu Shot Clinics
The Health Centers have partnered with San Mateo County Health to offer free flu shots to employees and students. Each campus hosted a drive-through flu shot clinic in November or December.

Face-to-Face Instruction
With the community in need of healthcare workers, first responders, and job training/retraining programs, the District began piloting face-to-face instructional programs in the summer. While instructors have been able to convert most courses to a fully online format, not all instruction can take place remotely. Thanks to big support efforts from Facilities, ITS, and Public Safety, classes that must meet face-to-face are now doing so.

As of this fall, more than 700 students are participating in some form of on-campus instruction as part of their curriculum. A sampling of these courses includes:

Cañada College:
Medical Assisting
Radiology Technology

College of San Mateo:
Dentistry
EMT
Fire Academy
Nursing

Skyline College:
Automotive Technology
Cosmetology
Surgery Technology
Respiratory Care
STEM labs

We Salute Our Essential Workers

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Richard Rojo

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, certain categories of professionals have been designated “essential workers” for their role in maintaining the health and safety of the community. While most of our classified staff, faculty, and administrators work from home, these employees still come to work to keep campuses, buildings and technology running smoothly to support the District’s educational mission. With three college campuses and the District Office to support, and with the complexities of intensive sanitization and safety procedures, these teams are more essential than ever.

Facilities
The District Facilities team continues to work full time during the pandemic. Every classroom, lab, hallway, staircase, door handle and elevator associated with a face-to-face class must be sanitized every day in order to keep people safe. Approximately 85 groundskeepers, engineers and custodians are onsite every day. Three facilities managers and three custodial supervisors, and a project coordinator oversee these operations.

Prior to the pandemic, the Facilities custodians had already been certified hospital-grade cleaning and disinfecting techniques by the Cleaning Management Institute. They have kept up to speed on Coronavirus sanitization techniques by participating in workshops through the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC). Teams also now use a specialized Clorox 360 electrostatic disinfecting machine.

The team also continues to maintain District physical assets, monitoring central boiler and chiller plants, monitoring critical life safety and building systems, and performing regular grounds keeping.

Information Technology Services
With most employees working remotely, and nearly all classes being taught online, technology is more important than ever. A team of 30 information technology professionals is on campus every day to support the District’s networks infrastructure, learning management systems, databases, business and records systems, communications systems, websites, and equipment. The team provides remote technical support for employees working from home, loans laptops and other equipment to employees and students, and has built the infrastructure to offer free Wi-Fi for students in the college parking lots.

Public Safety
The pandemic and its restrictions make safety, security, and controlling campus access of paramount importance. Access to the campuses and their buildings must be protected in order to offer food and technology distributions, face-to-face classes, and other high-priority campus operations. A team of 37 Public Safety employees makes this possible, working round-the-clock onsite at the three campuses.

Public Safety added six temporary employees to assist with staffing the campus access points, where people are screened for entry to the campuses. These employees work outside in summer heat, winter cold, rain and smoke, and have become experts at safely contacting and communicating with hundreds of people at our access points.

A grateful community member brought flowers to Officer Zorie Gomez, in appreciation of Officer Gomez’ cheerful and helpful disposition every week at the entrance of the District Emergency Food Distribution event.

Public Safety has assigned several employees to assist with the facilitation of every food distribution event at Skyline and CSM since they began. Officers also assist with other campus operations like technology distributions and flu shot clinics.

The Public Safety emergency manager and emergency management coordinator have taken a lead role in the startup and ongoing work of the District’s Emergency Operations Center.

For Students: How to change your grading options this semester

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Richard Rojo

We are more than halfway through the Fall 2020 semester and would like to remind you that you have the ability to change grading options on courses until the last day of the course. You can use WebSMART to do the following:

Withdraw from a course with an “EW-Excused Withdrawal”
Change the Grading Option from Letter Grade to Pass/No Pass or Vice Versa

To determine how these options will affect your educational goal, financial aid, and/or transfer status, please meet with a counselor BEFORE making any change.

Keep in mind that we are not giving “F” grades for Fall 2020, due to the extraordinary hardship students are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instread, anyone not passing a class will receive an “NP” grade, which does not have an impact on your GPA.

Please be aware that these options will be available up to the last day of instruction for the class, before the week of final exams. You can find the last date for your specific course on WebSchedule by clicking on the course and scrolling down to “critical dates for this course.” You can also locate the specific dates for your course on WebSMART by going into the Student Services tab and under Registration. Your schedule will appear with the Important Dates.

You also have up to a year after the course ends to request a withdrawal: just fill out the online request form and send to your college Admissions & Records office.

Thank you,
Admissions and Records

Contact Us:
Cañada College Counseling Center
College of San Mateo Counseling Center
Skyline College Counseling Center

Or visit the Virtual Campus

FREE Drive-Up Flu Shot Clinics for Students and Employees

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Richard Rojo

In collaboration with SMCCCD District Nurses, San Mateo County Health is offering free flu shots for SMCCCD students, faculty, and staff. If you work or take classes at Cañada College, College of San Mateo, or Skyline College, you can get a free flu shot on Nov. 18, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9. See covid-19.smccd.edu/flushots for details.

Free Drive-Up Wi-Fi Now Available for SMCCCD Students

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Richard Rojo

The San Mateo County Community College District now offers free Wi-Fi access for students at all three campuses. The new “Drive-Up Wi-Fi” service allows students to park in a specially designated parking lot on the campus of their choice, where they can access Wi-Fi to attend online classes or do schoolwork.

The program was made possible by an all-District team of staff and administrators who have been working to design a system that provides convenient student Wi-Fi access while maintaining District health and safety requirements during the pandemic.

Reservations are required. Students can pick the campus most convenient to them, fill out the Eventbrite reservation form, print or download their Eventbrite ticket, and follow the instructions. Restrooms are available. Students have in/out privileges for the Drive-Up Wi-Fi lot between 6am – 8pm.

Drive-Up Wi-Fi Website/Reservations

Student Drive-Up Wi-Fi Hours
Cañada College:
Monday – Friday, 6 am – 8 pm

College of San Mateo:
Monday – Saturday (except Fridays), 6 am – 8 pm

Skyline College:
Monday – Friday (except Wednesdays), 6 am – 8 pm

Student Drive-Up Wi-Fi Rules

Review COVID-19 symptoms and stay home if you are sick
Make a reservation on Eventbrite and bring your ticket to campus
Check in at the Public Safety Access Point
Drive to the Wi-Fi lot and park in any space with a GREEN cone
Only members of the same household in each vehicle
All vehicle occupants must remain in the vehicle except to use restrooms
Read and follow all rules on your Eventbrite ticket
Abide by the Student Code of Ethics

For more information, please see the District Drive-Up Wi-Fi website.

San Mateo County Community College District Courses Remain Mainly Online for Spring 2021 Term

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Richard Rojo

The three colleges of the San Mateo County Community College District – Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College – will continue to hold courses in online and distance education modalities, as well as provide most student services remotely, through the end of the Spring 2021 semester. The San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees formally ratified the decision in their meeting on Sept. 23.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt higher education along with every other sector,” said SMCCCD Chancellor Mike Claire. “This decision allows our employees to plan ahead for a successful spring semester, and it lets students know what to expect. Staying online is the best way to keep our students, faculty, and staff healthy and safe.”

The Board’s decision was based on the recommendation of the Chancellor and supported by a recommendation from the District Academic Senate. Faculty, staff and students have expressed a need to have as much time as possible to plan for the spring term.

Most employees will also continue to work remotely through May 2021.

In-person instruction will continue for certain essential infrastructure sectors–healthcare, emergency services, and transportation fields, as well as critical STEM labs in key transfer areas, and to meet licensing requirements for career education programs–in order to train first responders and healthcare workers to address urgent community needs and to provide direct pathways to employment. Due to criteria set by the State that include requirements for social distancing, classroom/lab sanitization procedures, and other health precautions, the number of people at SMCCCD campuses will be kept at a minimum.

During summer 2020, Colleges provided a massive professional development program to train instructors in online education. Approximately 600 college faculty participated, as well as dual enrollment faculty, faculty instructors, and other support staff. The training program was supported by more than $1.4 million in Federal CARES Act funding as well as District funds.

The District has launched a number of programs to help students cope with the ongoing crisis. Drive-Up WiFi service is available six days a week to help students attend online classes and complete their schoolwork. In a partnership with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, the District now offers free food distribution on Wednesdays at Skyline College, and Fridays at College of San Mateo. The District is distributing more than $4.2 million in federal CARES Act funding to students to assist with financial challenges. The three Colleges have been distributing loaner Chromebooks, WiFi hotspots and other supplies to students. Healthcare services are available via telemedicine free of charge to students.

COVID-19 Grading and Refund Information for Fall 2020 Courses

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Richard Rojo

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS
For all COVID-19 refundable drop and withdrawal dates, please refer to your WebSMART under Class Schedule Summary. The following outlines what these dates include in terms of fee refunds and grading:

Last Refund: Drop with a full refund including material, health services fees.

Withdrawal/End Date: Refund Enrollment Fee and Non-Resident tuition through the last scheduled class day prior to exam week.

After the last scheduled class day, only the enrollment fee will be refunded EXCEPT for Non-Resident and International.

Section Refund Date: Drop with a full refund including material, health services fees.

Last Day to Drop with a Section Refund: Refund of Enrollment Fee and Non-Resident Tuition only. Material, health, and other fees will be refunded.

Last Day to Drop Without Appearing on Transcript: Refund of Enrollment Fee and Non-Resident Tuition only. Material, health, and other fees will not be refunded.

Last Day to Change To Pass/No Pass Grading Option: No fee refund applies – see counselor before considering

Last Day to Withdrawal with an EW: Refund Enrollment Fee and Non-Resident tuition through the last scheduled class day prior to exam week.

After the last scheduled class day, only the enrollment fee, Non-Resident and International will refund. The Non-Resident and International student tuition will stop refunding one month after the term end date.

FACULTY INSTRUCTIONS
For all Covid-19 Refundable Drop and Withdrawal dates, please refer to your WebSMART under Class List of Registered and Waitlisted Students. The following outlines what these dates include in terms of fee refunds and grading:

Refund Date: Drop with a full refund including material, health services fees.

Last Withdrawal Date: Refund Enrollment Fee and Non-Resident tuition through the last scheduled class day prior to exam week. The Non-Resident and International student tuition will stop refunding one month after the term end date.

End Date: After the last scheduled class day, only the enrollment fee, Non-Resident and International will refund. The Non-Resident and International student tuition will stop refunding one month after the term end date.

COVID-19 Grading and Refund Information for Spring 2021 Courses

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Chris Smith