Flex Day Update

Dear SMC Colleagues:

To further COVID-19 preparedness efforts, Santa Monica College will repurpose its upcoming Institutional Flex Day and Classified Professional Development Day on Tuesday, March 10 to allow time for faculty, staff, and administrators to participate in training and make other preparations in the event that a campus closure becomes necessary. There are currently no confirmed cases at SMC.

Tuesday remains a mandatory work day for staff and for full-time faculty, but instead of the previously scheduled events, we will offer both hands-on and webinar-based opportunities for training on Zoom, Canvas and other online communication and document sharing tools available to the SMC community.

Faculty may participate in these live training opportunities, and/or opt to work independently, from home or on campus, on tasks related to moving instruction and counseling services online, including using the training materials posted on the Instructional Continuity webpage. The Institutional Flex Reporting system in mProfessor will be modified to allow faculty to report their flex work accordingly.

Classified staff should report to work as usual. The activities planned for classified professional development will be cancelled, with plans to reschedule as possible for the fall flex day. Those areas for which work could move online in the event of a campus closure may also participate in training and preparation activities. Staff should consult with area supervisors regarding these options.

More details regarding live training options will be provided tomorrow. As always, employees who are feeling ill should stay home and report the absence as a sick day (see “Faculty & Staff FAQ” on the COVID-19 preparedness page for policies and procedures that apply).

We wish to thank members of the PDC, CPDC, Events, IT, Media Services, and many others who put much thought, time and effort into planning what would surely have been a wonderful flex day. We are sorry not to move forward with those plans at this time, but believe it is in the best interest of our students and our college community to devote Tuesday's time instead to our campus preparedness efforts.

At this time, the LA County Department of Public Health and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) do not recommend cancellations or closures for LA County. Our sister community colleges and other institutions of higher education in our area remain open as well. The College continues to monitor the situation and will provide updates if public health recommendations change. Please visit smc.edu/coronavirus for additional information, including FAQ related to faculty/staff. This page will continue to be updated as needed with relevant information (send any unaddressed questions/concerns to your area dean & VP).

I deeply appreciate your flexibility, co-operation, and collegial collaboration at this time of uncertainty.

Kathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D.
Superintendent/President