(Photo | Courtesy of Central Oregon Community College)
Central Oregon Community College (COCC) plans to reopen all campuses to the public in a limited capacity on Monday, June 14. The college has been closed to the public since March 23, 2020, when COCC moved classes and services to remote delivery in response to an executive order from Oregon Governor Kate Brown in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In-person learning for summer term will remain limited and as currently scheduled, with the intention of gradually expanding on-campus classes for fall and subsequent terms. Beginning June 14 on all campuses (Bend, Redmond, Madras and Prineville), buildings and offices will be open and staffed in order to resume incremental in-person services. On COCC’s Bend campus, the college will reopen its track, field and trails to the public. COCC will continue to offer tours to prospective students and their families (one household per tour, masks required). The college will also consider facility rental requests from community partners in accordance with all current health and safety protocols. Wickiup Residence Hall will reopen to residents in the fall term.
“Over the last 13 months, our students and employees have weathered this pandemic with resilience, determination, creativity and empathy,” said Dr. Laurie Chesley, president of COCC. “We are excited to safely reopen our campuses to the public and welcome back our Central Oregon community this June.”
As COCC has done throughout the pandemic, the college will continue to follow all OHA, CDC and OSHA guidelines to promote a safe and healthy environment for students, employees and the public. COCC will also closely monitor tri-county health risk levels as well as regional COVID-19 vaccination and hospitalization rates, to be prepared to adapt and evolve reopening plans as necessary.
Summer term at COCC begins Monday, June 21, and fall term begins Monday, September 20. The college will update its COVID-19 webpages to reflect the latest reopening details. Community members are also welcome to send reopening-related queries to covid19info@cocc.edu.
