Northampton Community College (NCC) has announced that its spring semester will begin Monday, Jan. 25, one week later than originally planned. The change provides additional time for students impacted by the pandemic to register for classes, pursue scholarship opportunities, meet with an academic advisor (Success Navigator) and select classes that best fit their educational pathways. This new start date is effective for all programs and classes including those with hands-on lab and clinical requirements.
In addition, the college’s spring break has been shortened to two days and will be held March 15-16, rather than the originally scheduled week-long period. The shorter break will help reduce COVID spread and exposure and also allow spring classes to finish three days earlier than planned, now May 4. The college’s updated Academic Calendar can be reviewed here that incorporates all key dates and deadlines that have been changed in conjunction with the updated spring semester start. This includes the tuition due date which has been extended to Tuesday, Jan 19., to give students more time to access financial aid and coordinate payment.
In response to COVID-19, the college will continue to offer spring classes in a variety of flexible formats that include on-site, online and as hybrid courses (combination of onsite and online). These formats, established in fall 2020, are designed to give students more control of their learning, while placing an emphasis on health and safety practices to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Some online courses will meet regularly at set scheduled times each week, while others are self-paced with weekly milestones, allowing students to access classes online whenever best suits their schedules.Important student services, such as tutoring, counseling, and other functions, will be offered both onsite and online this spring. A detailed overview of the spring course formats is available on the NCC website.
“The new normal we adopted at NCC required extraordinary effort and flexibility from our students,faculty and staff to provide a safe, quality learning environment as we navigate and continue to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NCC President Dr. Mark Erickson. “It has not been easy. Yet the entire NCC community has demonstrated great responsibility and resiliency, and for that, I am so proud.
“Despite all that we have faced, we’ve been able to keep NCC moving forward, providing access to a top college education–online and on campus-in spite of the pandemic. We will continue to do that during the spring semester.”
The college’s residential halls, which offer on-campus living options for students, will remain open in the spring. To address health and safety needs, the halls will be operating at reduced capacity.
The college’s community and continuing education programs, which offer non-credit classes to area residents for personal enrichment, is also offering spring courses. Photography, cooking and fitness classes are now accepting students, as are programs providing specialized training in cybersecurity, healthcare and OSHA outreach. NCC’s newly expanded Fab Lab will also be offering a variety of hands-on learning experiences, from guitar building, woodturning, 3D printing and robotics. Those interested can visit northampton.edu/lifelearn to view and sign up for spring programs.
As in the fall, all students, faculty and staff returning to campus are required to wear face masks and complete a self health check via the college’s NCCGo mobile app. Social distancing protocols will be followed in all campus spaces, and detailed guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting protocols have been established with hand sanitizing stations and plastic shielding installed in key areas.
Enrollment Centers at both Bethlehem and Monroe campuses are open in person and online to help prospective and returning students register for spring classes, get information about financial aid, accept payments and more. To view enrollment center hours and procedures, click here. NCC continues to monitor the spread of COVID-19 and is working closely with local and state health agencies. To keep the community informed, the college regularly updates its website to share information as well as communicating with groups via email and the NCCGo mobile app.
