EMCC reopens all campuses to public as semester slowly approaches

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) —  All East Mississippi Community College campuses will now be opened to the public.

In recent months, the college has closed its doors to the public because of COVID-19.

“Everything we put together is following the Mississippi Department of Health, the CDC, guidelines,” said EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks. And those changes, and one thing we know is it took a lot of work to get to where we are, to be prepared to bring people in and to do it safely.”

Dr. Alsobrooks said students will be provided with several options for attending classes.

“Classes will be live, classes will be recorded so students can sit and watch a lecture at home or watch it recorded at home if they are not comfortable coming to class,” said Dr. Alsobrooks.

And for those who want to attend class in person, Dr. Alsobrooks said classroom desks will be separated and classes will be divided up lowering the number of students in the classroom at one time.

“We’re going to divide sections up into an A and a B and things like that,” he said. “So you only bring half the class in at one point and half later throughout the week.”

Alsobrooks said it will be a requirement for anyone on campus to wear a mask.

“We are requiring masks, we’re using face shields, we’re using plexiglass dividers between people, faculty and all workers and our students,” said Dr. Alsobrooks. “But we are very excited, you know we want people to have the option to return to school. I think that a lot of people feel the need to go to school, you know they got to get life back on track.”

To learn more, you can click here.