Dear Lakehawk Community,
I want to take this opportunity to share with everyone in our community about Lake-Sumter State College’s response to the COVID-19 situation and our ongoing efforts.
Our faculty and staff all participated in successfully implementing what I believe, upon later reflection, will be the hardest and most significant achievement in their personal lives and professional careers. In less than ten days, we closed all college campus locations successfully and moved the entire operation online, while maintaining excellent student and community support. They accomplished this flawlessly!
As we continue moving forward, our necessary next steps have to include the start of a process to define a new normal while preparing our College for the fall and beyond. There is no doubt in my mind that many of the changes we have put in place to address this challenge will persist far into the College’s future. I am looking forward to continuing our productive teamwork as we work to create a new future.
As we move into Phase 2 of our slow and deliberate phased approach to return to campus, I want to share a little about the changes we will make to protect the health and safety of each of our faculty, staff, students, and community visitors.
During Phase 2, College Leadership will return to campus and begin to prepare our physical spaces for our new operational guidelines.
Once this work is complete, we can move to Phase 3; where we will transition a limited number of employees back to campus.
During Phase 2 and 3, we will continue to limit access to our campuses; for everyone’s safety, students and community visitors should not be on campus.
When we are ready, and have the appropriate clearances from the Governor, Florida Department of Education, and public health officials, we will slowly transition to Phase 4 – Full Operations – where we will welcome students and visitors back to our campuses.
The College has tasked workgroups that continue to develop plans and guidelines that will protect the health and safety of each of our employees, students, and community visitors. Throughout this process, the College will provide options for those at higher risk of severe illness through supportive policies and practices.
As we move forward, we will continue the open and candid dialogue that underlies these plans, and modify those plans as new concerns arise. We live in Florida — all of our plans are not carved in granite; instead, they are molded out of malleable sandstone.
Lake-Sumter State College is truly a special place. I am confident that we will continue to foster our strong community spirit and embrace learning as we move into our new reality.
Be safe, be happy, be healthy, be Lakehawk Strong.
Dr. Stan Sidor
President, Lake-Sumter State College