East Central Community College in Decatur is making plans to reopen its campus to students and resume in-person, on-campus classes beginning with the fall 2020 semester.

“East Central Community College has been monitoring local, state, and national developments surrounding COVID-19 and recommended health and safety guidelines since early March, with our No. 1 goal to keep members of our campus community safe,” said ECCC President Billy Stewart. “Although our campus is currently closed to the public and our students are engaged in online and alternate format courses this summer, college officials are making plans to reopen our campus and resume in-person classes beginning with the fall 2020 term.”

Stewart, who retires on June 30 after eight years as East Central’s president, said he is working with incoming ECCC president Dr. Brent Gregory and the college’s Reopening of Campus Task Force (formerly the Pandemic Response Team) in shaping the college’s COVID-19 reopening plan.

Gregory, who serves as vice president for student affairs at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit and will assume his duties on July 1, said the Reopening of Campus Task Force will have separate committees to address various aspects of reopening, such as instruction, student services, and health and safety protocols.

Fall full term day and evening on-campus classes are scheduled to begin on Monday, Aug. 17. ECCC will continue to offer online classes in the fall as well, in full, intensive, and four-week terms. There is also the potential that all campus classes will have to switch to the online environment should developments related to COVID-19 warrant.

Tentative plans call for the fall semester to end on Friday, Nov. 20, or the week of Thanksgiving so that students do not have to return to campus after the traditional Thanksgiving holiday. This would be accomplished by using Fridays and other open dates in the fall schedule to fully complete classes and labs. ECCC moved to a four-day class schedule in spring 2016, with Fridays open for studying and learning opportunities outside the classroom. 

“By completing our fall semester a few days early, we hope to have students at home during a time of the year when the health agencies we monitor daily believe there could be another increase in COVID-19 cases, along with the normal flu season,” Stewart said.

East Central transitioned to online and alternate delivery of coursework following an extended two-week spring break in March to complete the spring semester. The June and July summer terms also are online and alternate delivery format only.

East Central began a phased-in return to campus for employees on June 1, with a return to a normal full-time schedule for all employees anticipated by Monday, June 29. In addition, students in 12-month programs such as Surgical Technology, Cosmetology, and Diesel Equipment Technology, are returning to campus for small group instruction.

All employees and students are being screened before entering campus each day and are expected to follow social distancing and other safety and health protocols as communicated by the CDC and the MSDH and contained in the college’s Manual for the Resumption of Normal On-Campus Operations in Response to COVID-19.

Registration for any ECCC academic term is being held online at www.eccc.edu using the Student tab under the myEC portal, which includes all the information students need to register, including course schedules and academic calendars.

 In order to register, students must complete the admissions process: complete and submit the Application for Admission; submit ACT or Accuplacer scores, which are used for placement in English and math; and submit high school or college transcripts. Transfer students must have all college transcripts on file before they can register for classes.

Students who have already satisfied all three steps in the admissions process will have received information from the ECCC Office of Admissions on how to log-in to myEC and how to register for classes.

Students who need assistance registering for classes once logged in to myEC should contact registration@eccc.edu. Students who have questions about their admissions status or who need help in applying to attend ECCC should contact the Office of Admissions at sholling@eccc.edu or 601-635-6207.

Prospective and current students can schedule virtual meetings with the college’s student services staff to discuss registration, applying for admission, financial aid, and online classes by visiting www.eccc.edu/go-virtual.