Dear MMA Community,

We have been monitoring the COVID-19 situation in our state and on our campus, and though we’ve been successful since August in keeping our campus nearly COVID-free, like the rest of Maine we are seeing more positive cases in our community. Please view the COVID dashboard for further information on cases.

In order to continue to accomplish our educational mission while operating safely, we are transitioning at the end of this week to remote learning via the plan below.

ACADEMICS

• Tomorrow and Friday, November 12-13: labs and face-to-face courses that are conducting required assessments or mandatory in-person experience will operate as planned. All other courses will be provided via remote instruction. Please monitor communications from your professors for details.
• As of Monday, November 16, all courses will be provided via remote instruction.
• Final exams will not be held in person this term. Course faculty will determine the format for their final exams and will notify students of their plans in the coming days. Please note that some exams and assessments may have to be held when we return to campus for the spring semester.

HOUSING & ON-CAMPUS SERVICES

• Curtis Hall and The Commons will close on Wednesday, November 18th at 5 p.m. All of the same closing procedures will apply that were sent in Janice Folk’s earlier communication. You can view all details on the Residential Life section of the Fall 2020 website.
• Once you have determined when you will leave campus, please sign up for a check-out appointment on mystudentlife as described in the webpage linked above. It is critical that you let us know your plans so we can plan for meals, shuttles, and staffing.
• Students who are in isolation or quarantine housing on campus will be asked to complete their required time on campus with meals provided.
• Students who have travel difficulties, including the inability to change plane tickets, may contact Deidra Davis at deidra.davis@mma.edu to discuss options.
• Meals will continue to be take-out or pre-ordered with the BITE app through dinner on November 18th.\
• A Student Town Hall will be held tonight at 7 p.m. on Zoom to answer your questions about the remainder of the semester.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

We will hold two Zoom sessions today for faculty and students to get additional information and have their questions answered:

• Faculty Town Hall: Today – November 11 – 4 p.m. – please see email with Zoom link
• Student Town Hall: Tonight – November 11 – 7 p.m. – please see email with Zoom link

For staff, this transition does not change your status and you will continue to work as you have been. However, please address any questions you have with your supervisor. If there is a reason to change our status, or condition, we will communicate that in the coming days.

As you know, we had hoped to operate through Thanksgiving on campus, and the realities of the pandemic are such that we must change our plan. I thank all of you in advance for your patience and commitment to the schedule as outlined above and ask that you please bring your questions to the Zoom sessions today or this evening.

While we are making this swift change to mitigate the impact of the virus now, we are also looking toward the future. At this time, our plan for January remains the same. However, we know now what not following our 12 Ways guidance can mean for all of us. It is our individual choices and our dedication to safety that is the best chance we have to hold a Spring 2021 term on campus.

Due to the lessons learned through recent events, we will be making some modifications to the testing and quarantine program and will send Spring 2021 information to you in December.

Please stay safe and be well,

Dr. William J. Brennan
President
Maine Maritime Academy