Coronavirus (COVID - 19)

No. However, Delta College is providing instruction and support services remotely until the public health threat posted by COVID-19 subsides. Only essential personnel will report to campus. 

Visit deltacollege.edu/were-going-online for important actions you can take to prepare. You can also familiarize yourself with online student resources by visiting https://deltacollege.edu/academics/online-regional-education/online-classes or learning how to start using Canvas by visiting  https://deltacollege.edu/academics/online-regional-education/students-canvas-guides-and-videos

Students - Canvas Guides and Videos

Coronavirus is a respiratory illness that can range from mild to severe or even life-threatening. There are many types, some of which are common in animals and people. This particular type of coronavirus, COVID-19, is new.

Symptoms are very similar to the flu, including fever, cough and shortness of breath. If you have these symptoms, experts recommend staying home from work or school.

The coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person, between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet). It is thought to spread via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

It may be possible that a person can get the virus by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.

Delta College announced today that classes will remain mostly online for Spring Semester.  

The Delta College Bookstore has reopened. You can visit the Bookstore between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 

Staff will assist you at two temporary windows set up at the entrance.

We ask that you:

• Consider ordering online the day before you need to pick up. This will help us maintain social distancing and reduce your time in line.
• Pay by credit card if possible.
• Wear a mask.

If you have questions, please call (209) 954-5086.

Delta College is scheduling Fall Semester classes to be mostly online. Hands-on career technical education classes and some arts/music/drama classes will be scheduled as “hybrids” — partially online, partially in person — with plans to exercise specific social distancing guidelines. This plan will enable all students to complete their classes on time.
 
You can view the preliminary Fall 2020 schedule in MyDelta. Please note that the schedule is a work in progress and will be updated significantly in the days to come.
 
We will provide more updates as Fall Semester approaches.  In the meantime, we will continue to respond to students' needs, especially basic needs such as housing, food, and access to technology.  We are working to provide a safe, secure and productive learning environment, and to ensure that students have the tools they need to achieve their goals at Delta.
 
We know the sudden shift to online and remote access learning has been difficult. We are proud of students' accomplishments this spring semester. Keep moving forward! We will work through this together.

Students

CHROMEBOOKS/LAPTOPS: Chromebooks and laptops are now being distributed to students. Most of these devices are available for borrowing, though some are also available through an approved voucher program.  To determine which option you are eligible for, please click here and complete our Technology Survey.

If you need one of these devices, please contact your student success coach and ask for a referral. You can find your success coach in Canvas, or you can email your success coach here. Once your referral has been processed, you will be emailed with a day and time to pick up your device.

WIFI: Starting Monday, April 13, free WiFi will be available in most Delta College parking lots from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. You do not need a parking permit. 

There are two WiFi networks for students:

• DeltaStudentWifi
• DeltaStudentWifi2

The new password for both networks is: 

            DeltaWiFi5151

MUSTANG TECH SQUAD: If you have difficulty with your Chromebook or laptop, reach out to our new student technology help desk – recently named the “Mustang Tech Squad” -- during any of the following days and times:

• Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Friday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

You can reach the Tech Squad at (209) 565-1407 (text or call), or through chat. Additional contact information will be added to deltacollege.edu/techsquad.

Faculty/Staff

REMOTE SERVICES: IT is moving to remote services with limited hours with on-site support (pick-up, etc.) by appointment only.  Please contact the IT Help Desk to arrange for an appointment. 

SAVING FILES: All district employees have access to OneDrive through Microsoft office. This is a cloud service and does not require VPN to access.  For training on how to use OneDrive go to https://support.office.com/en-us/article/upload-and-save-files-and-folders-to-onedrive-for-business-a1397e56-61ec-4ed2-9dac-727bf8ac3357. Do not purchase external drives or save District files containing confidential information on personal or external hard drives.  

PROTECTION FROM BLUE LIGHT: Working long hours at a computer can cause visual eye strain and long exposure to blue light.  You can help your eyes by downloading  f.flux at https://justgetflux.com/ .  f.lux will adapt your computer display to the time of day. 

San Joaquin Delta College will continue to provide instruction and support services remotely until the public health threat posed by COVID-19 subsides. 

The College will extend its stay at home and remote work practice for employees, with the exception of essential operations personnel. 

All classes, including labs, have shifted online or to other remote access. At the same time, the College is exploring options to provide students with learning opportunities for hands-on skills acquisition and career education, including early responder programs and those with external accreditation requirements (such as Nursing and Police Academy). 

The College had previously hoped for a return to on-campus instruction on April 6. This announcement extends that date indefinitely until the public health risk subsides.

"I know this transition has been difficult for students and staff alike,” said Superintendent/President Dr. Omid Pourzanjani. “Please bear with us. We're working hard to get students access to the technology they need to complete courses, including laptops, and to make services like virtual tutoring available. We will continue to announce progress on these and other initiatives.”

Click here to read the full press release

Delta College President/Superintendent Dr. Omid Pourzanjani sent the following message:

As you may know, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors met this morning to discuss local responses to the coronavirus situation.  After listening to a group of experts, including the County Public Health officials, they decided that the current situation, at this moment in time, does not necessitate a county-wide shut-down.

However, here at Delta, we want to make sure we are doing everything possible to protect the wellbeing of our employees and students. To that end, I would like to outline some of the proactive steps we are taking:

1. Effective Wednesday morning, March 18^th, the campus will be closed for face-to-face instruction and student services until Monday, April 6, 2020.
2. ALL instruction, including labs, will be moved to remote instruction. Additional instructions will be provided via a follow-up email from Dr. Todd.
3. All student services functions are in the process of remote support delivery. This Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll have a dry-run of this change to resolve any issues.
4. All District/Categorically-funded travel is being canceled immediately.
5. All campus-sponsored events and large gatherings will be canceled or offered via alternative meeting delivery (i.e. telephone/video conferencing/online).
6. Consistent with general guidance from the Chancellor’s Office, all purchases and contracts are paused unless they are critical, including expenditures with Blanket orders and P-cards. This is the prudent thing to do in any crisis. We need to carefully watch our expenditures during these uncertain times.
7. Minimal staffing will be on campus to include Public Safety, Maintenance, Grounds, Custodians, Purchasing, IT, and other essential personnel. Managers are implementing appropriate plans for their areas and staff, which may include remote work. Minimally, all plans will allow for employees to perform their duties and still maintain ample socialdistancing from others.  On campus attendance excludes our at-risk population that must be in self-quarantine.
8. We will do our best to redeploy and retrain our short-term staff and student employees for alternative tasks and assignments.
9. We will be purchasing a large number of laptops for check-out to students that do not have one.
10. While not encouraged, employees are allowed to visit their instructional spaces or offices as necessary.  Please follow the social distancing guidelines while on campus.
11. It is natural for these unprecedented events to cause fear and anxiety. If you need help coping with these emotions, please look at the resources available on our Health and Wellness webpage, which may be helpful for both students and staff: https://deltacollege.edu/student-life/health-and-wellness/health-wellness-resources
12. District Police will be available 24/7 and will close and secure the campus between 7 PM and 7 AM.  If you plan to visit the campus during those hours, please notify the Police Dispatch (with your name and campus location) at policedeptdispatch@deltacollege.edu or call 1-209-954-5000.  

Please be assured that we are monitoring all communications at the national, state, and local levels in addition to communications from the Chancellor’s Office. We will release more information as it becomes available. Check https://www.deltacollege.edu/coronavirus for more information and send any questions you might have to coronavirus@deltacollege.edu.

Wishing you health and peace during these challenging times.

Dr. Omid Pourzanjani, Superintendent/ President

Delta College President/Superintendent Dr. Omid Pourzanjani sent the following message:

As you are undoubtedly aware, the situation with the Coronavirus has been elevated to a national pandemic. Accordingly, we are raising our alert level and providing you with additional information.  Please read this information carefully.

There are no confirmed coronavirus cases at the College and public health experts consider the risk to our college very low. The College will continue to stay open and no classes are being canceled. I request your help in achieving two milestones: 1) Let’s please finish this week of instruction, and  2) When we come back from spring break, let’s work together to get our students to the end of the semester and to graduation!

We are taking additional steps to lower the risk to you and our students:

• Faculty will be working with deans and support staff to move as many classes as possible to online using our Canvas learning management system. I ask for your patience and flexibility as we go through this transition.
   
• Instructional activities that require face-to-face and hands-on assignments such as science or career education labs will continue to meet on campus as we explore alternatives.
   
• More information will be shared with you regarding training opportunities and material for teaching and learning online at deltacollege.edu/department/online-regional-education. 
   
• All major events scheduled for the next three weeks are either canceled, postponed, or will be closed to the public. This is an extremely difficult decision as we are moving into a very busy time of year with many important events. For example, all athletic events and graduation ceremonies (such as the Post Academy graduation) will be held without an audience.  We will look for internet streaming opportunities for these events whenever possible.
   
• Employee and student travel on college business may continue. However, we want to make it clear that no one is compelled to travel. If you were planning to travel to a conference or event and no longer feel comfortable doing so, please cancel your trip immediately.
   
• We encourage staff to work remotely when possible with a manager’s approval, giving priority to those at-risk employees as described by the Centers for Disease Control. We will work to make needed equipment available. We want to be as flexible as possible while still ensuring we can operate the college and provide students with the services they need. Please, if you feel sick, do not come to work! If you have a fever, per California Department of Public Health guidelines, remain at home until the fever has been gone for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines. 
   
• Since campus will remain open, students are welcome to use computers in designated labs, study in the library, or apply for financial aid, among myriad other actions.  We are merely shifting classes online to decrease the number of people who are on campus at any particular time.
   

I’m sure you have many additional questions. We are still figuring out the details of these measures, and will provide additional information as soon as possible. You can find updates and frequently asked questions at deltacollege.edu/coronavirus. A dedicated email address has also been set up at coronavirus@deltacollege.edu.

I believe we don’t have much control over what the universe may send our way, but we have control over how we react to it.  The one thing that I have learned about our Delta family in the past eight months is that you are resilient! When times get tough, you stick together and work through the issues.  This situation is no different.  Let’s support each other, stay calm, and keep our focus on our well-being and our mission!

Dr. Omid Pourzanjani, Superintendent/ President

The Delta College student who was exposed to coronavirus at a medical facility outside of our county is in self-isolation and is not showing any symptoms of the virus. There are no confirmed coronavirus cases on Delta's campus.

While the San Joaquin County Department of Public Health considers the risk to Delta's campus to be very low, it is more important than ever to take basic preventative steps to remain healthy. We encourage you to watch and share the videos below, which present facts about coronavirus and proper hand-washing techniques.

Maintenance personnel continue working to sanitize and disinfect the campus. Delta is also working to acquire disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer units which will be deployed as soon as possible.

Have questions or concerns? A dedicated email address has been set up at coronavirus@deltacollege.edu.

Delta College has ordered hand sanitizer units and disinfectant wipes for high-traffic areas on campus. The College expects to receive the wipes on Thursday, March 5. However, due to high demand, the hand sanitizer units are not expected to arrive until Monday, March 9. They are being shipped from a distributor in Tennessee. Please keep in mind that CDC recommends washing your hands to be among the most effective strategies.

The College is also posting signs on restroom mirrors with tips for effective hand-washing, as well as the phone number for our Maintenance and Operations office in the event that bathroom supplies need restocking.

The California Department of Public Health considers the risk to the general public to be low, and as such there are no plans to close campus or cancel classes or events. However, we recognize this is a fluid situation and we will continue to work closely with our expert partners in the public health field.