As a DSCC student, or the parent or guardian of a student, I wanted you to know that Dyersburg State has made plans to help prevent the spread of the H1N1 (Swine) flu virus and to continue the operations of the College if we should have a severe outbreak that would cause us to cancel classes. With over 3,400 students attending classes this fall, we hope to safeguard the student body as well as our faculty and staff.
Preventative efforts by the college:
- We have made flu prevention brochures available in all our buildings on campus and at our centers.
- Signs are posted in each bathroom reminding users to wash their hands and giving instructions for thorough cleansing.
- Information about the flu is posted on the DSCC web site home page (www.dscc.edu).
- We have established a central reporting center and each instructor will be reporting those who miss class because of the flu. This will help us monitor cases at the college.
- Our maintenance staff is taking extra steps to sanitize door handles and other commonly used appliances.
- All faculty members have been advised to take into account the presence of H1N1 in the community, to discourage class attendance by any student experiencing flu-like symptoms, and to make alternatives available to students who must miss class due to illness.
- Each academic department has created a plan for education continuity using alternate traditional or non-traditional instruction methods.
Preventative steps we ask you to take:
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Wash your hands. This is the simplest and most effective way to avoid the spread of the virus.
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If a student becomes sick, especially with flu-like symptoms, we ask that all instructors be notified as soon as possible. Students should also self-isolate and take care of themselves, then wait 24 hours after their fever is gone (in the absence of fever-reducing medications) before returning to classes.
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Get the flu shot.
If an outbreak severe enough to cause the college to close the campus and centers occurs, we will do the following:
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For traditional classes that meet on campus or at our centers, a decision will be made as to which classes must cancel and which will continue through online instruction or other non-traditional instruction methods.
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Our faculty will program their office phones with instructions related to the assignments for their courses.
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If necessary, Saturdays may be used as make-up days for missed classes.
How will we let you know if we must close the campus or our centers?
We will place notifications and instructions on our web site landing page ( www.dscc.edu), on local television and radio stations, and on cable channel 4 in Dyersburg. While we hope that we will not have to put these plans to use, we wanted you to know that the College is prepared to handle this. With your help, we will work through this together.
With my best regards and wishes for good health!
Karen A. Bowyer
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