Keeping Everyone Safe – Fall Semester Safety Protocols

student looking at laptop in the classroom with central Piedmont face mask on

A Message from Dr. Deitemeyer:

I am excited for the start of the Fall 2021 semester on Aug. 16. I look forward to seeing so many of you back on campus for the first time in several months and some of you for the first time ever.

The college will operate at full capacity this fall, with a majority of classes being offered on-campus as well as many online. It is our intention to begin the semester operating in a way that mirrors pre-pandemic times as much as possible. Nevertheless, we want everyone to be as safe as can be while on campus. We have looked closely at the COVID-19 recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services (NCDHHS), as well as the strong communication coming from the Governor’s Office. All of these continue to stress the importance of being vaccinated.

If you have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19, I strongly encourage you to do so, if you are so inclined, at your earliest opportunity. With the increase in positive COVID-19 tests and cases due to the delta variant spreading across North Carolina and the nation, the CDC and NCDHHS recommend that everyone 12 years and older be vaccinated as soon as possible. Vaccination of all eligible faculty, staff and students is the most effective strategy to ensure our normal semester operations remain on track.

The college will not ask you to provide your vaccination status, nor should anyone connected to the college inquire about your status. Again, no one at the college should ask anyone else at the college about their vaccination status. However, that should not lessen your sense of personal responsibility in getting vaccinated.

In addition to encouraging everyone to be vaccinated, the college will have the following safety protocols in place through at least Aug. 31.

Face coverings required indoors while on campus
Effective immediately, face coverings are required during instructional activities (during classes, labs, etc.); in face-to-face meetings, and whenever persons are moving through or gathering in indoor common areas, such as hallways, lobbies, stairways, elevators, our libraries, restrooms, etc. The only exception to this requirement is when employees are in their personal offices.

Our face mask requirement does not affect the expectation of a continued return to on-campus work for college employees. Until the vaccination rate in Mecklenburg gets significantly higher or the rate of positive COVID-19 cases begins to diminish, requiring everyone to wear face coverings indoors will help keep everyone safe.

Face masks and gloves remain available at building entrances to anyone who needs them. Face coverings are not required outdoors on campus.

Stay Home if You Feel Ill
Please stay home if you feel ill in any way. If your symptoms persist, please see a health care provider. Students should inform their instructors, and employees should talk with their supervisor.

Will there be opportunities for students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated while on campus during the fall semester?
YES. The college is working out the details with a local health care provider to offer vaccination clinics on multiple campuses. We will share these details as soon as possible. However, you should not feel that you need to wait for these clinics. If you have the ability to be vaccinated within the coming days, please do so.

How should students and employees report positive COVID tests?
To report COVID cases and exposures, or to ask questions about our protocols, please email wecare@cpcc.edu. Students should also notify their instructors, and employees should make their supervisors aware as soon as possible.

What will be the isolation/quarantine protocols for vaccinated and unvaccinated students and employees?
We will follow CDC protocols to determine isolation/quarantine recommendations for students and employees based on vaccination status. These will be communicated directly to persons who test positive for COVID-19 and have been in contact with positive-test persons.

Closing
As we continue to navigate this global pandemic, I send my sincere best wishes and thanks to our dedicated faculty, staff and students for your hard work, dedication and patience. Thank you for your flexibility as CDC and NCDHHS recommendations change. I know this will be a great semester, and working together, we will keep everyone as safe as possible.

College Receives $10-Million Gift Commitment

visual arts studentA donor who wishes to remain anonymous has made a $10-million gift commitment to Central Piedmont Community College. The gift is the single-largest individual donation in Central Piedmont’s 58-year history and among the largest gifts ever made to a community college nationwide.

Central Piedmont will use the gift to transform its role as a community resource for arts and humanities programming and learning.

Read the complete story.

Share Your Opinion for a Chance at a Gift Card

The Central Piedmont Bookstore Committee is conducting a study of our bookstore services, and would appreciate feedback on your experiences and preferences in purchasing books, supplies and/or materials, and other spirit or convenience items on our campuses or online. Your feedback will help us improve the overall bookstore experience, as well as influence the delivery mode of services.

The survey can be taken on any device including your phone; however, we recommend using a desktop or laptop computer, iPad, or other tablet devices for the best experience.

Survey participants will have the opportunity to win a $100 Visa gift card. Five Visa gift cards will be given away. Please check your inbox for the survey link, and complete the survey by August 6.

New FAFSA Rules Make Applying Easier

Good news for students: applying for financial aid just got a little easier! To provide relief to millions of students facing challenges this year, the Department of Education is waiving verification of the 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students are no longer required to verify household size or federal tax filing information. This means when you apply for your FAFSA – the one form that makes you eligible for almost every scholarship and financial aid opportunity – you and your parents will not have to submit tax documents and other forms of verification that could slow down the process.

If you have already submitted your FAFSA, please check your Central Piedmont email to see if you’ve been awarded financial aid.

Some students may still have additional documentation required.  If you have questions, please check with the Financial Aid Office or MyCollege to get the most recent status update on your FAFSA.

Central Piedmont Awarded $25,000 for New Metallica Scholars Initiative

Metallica

For the third-consecutive year, Central Piedmont Community College was selected to participate in the Metallica Scholars Initiative and receive $25,000 in funding to support its career and technical education programs.

Funded by Metallica’s All Within My Hands (AWMH) and led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Metallica Scholars Initiative was created in 2018 to fundamentally improve the earning potential for students who become Metallica Scholars.

Central Piedmont will continue to use the grant funds to provide direct support for students enrolled in one of four healthcare career programs but who need financial assistance to complete their studies and become licensed healthcare professionals. The project will continue to focus on high-demand healthcare programs, including dental assisting, medical assisting, ophthalmic medical personnel, and pharmacy technology, and target underrepresented students who would not be able to complete their program or obtain credentials without financial support. The goal of the initiative is to ensure students receive relevant jobs skills that will make them competitive in the healthcare field.

“We are proud to work with Metallica to advance the career and technical education provided by the nation’s community colleges,” said Walter G. Bumphus, AACC’s president and CEO. “Colleges across the country provide pathways to well-paying jobs through programs, services, and training that lead to in-demand skills, certificates and degrees for students. These programs are responsive to the needs of local businesses and provide a pipeline of qualified workers to local industry. It’s a win-win for our students and the local economy. For Metallica to continue to invest in these students and communities is a testament to the power of the workforce education community colleges provide and we are proud to do this work with them.”

Learn more about the Metallica Scholars Initiative at Central Piedmont.

Introducing the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center

exterior of Leon Levine Health Sciences Building

In recognition of a $2.5-million grant from The Leon Levine Foundation to support health sciences education and health careers preparation at Central Piedmont Community College, the college is naming its new health programs facility on its Central Campus the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center.

Located at the corner of Charlottetowne Avenue and Elizabeth Avenue, the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center opened in August 2020. While many Central Piedmont students still were taking classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in a number of health careers programs that require in-person instruction began taking classes and labs in the new facility immediately.

Covering approximately 74,450 square-feet of space, the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center provides a home base for multiple health professions programs, including dental assisting, biomedical equipment technology, surgical technology, and polysomnography, and hosts a state-of-the-art virtual-anatomy classroom. In addition, the facility provides students with a number of hospital simulation rooms, including, trauma, mother and child, pediatric, typical patient rooms, an operating room, clinical laboratory, and pharmacy. The building is also home to the geomatics and civil engineering programs and provides several general use classrooms.

Read the complete story.

Come Back for More! Take Fall or Winter Classes.

tutoring session with student and teacher reviewing book material

If you took classes with us during the summer, come back for more by taking a class this fall or winter.

Here’s why you should register now for fall and winter courses:

  • The college is offering nearly 40% more classes you can finish in a shorter amount of time — courses that are compressed into four- and eight-week sessions
  • We have more afternoon, evening, weekend, and online classes available
  • If you’re already enrolled at a four-year university, pick up a class here during your winter break. We have a four-week session that starts Dec. 6 and runs through Jan. 4.

If you’re having trouble with registration, call 704.330.6100, or email fye@cpcc.edu.

We look forward to seeing you back here soon!

Patricia Deshields Named 2021 PTK StudyBuddy Scholar

Central Piedmont student Patricia Deshields has been named a 2021 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) StudyBuddy Scholar and has received a 100 percent discount on either the TEAS or HESI prep courses at StudyBuddy.live.

The StudyBuddy Scholarship is for PTK members enrolled in pre-nursing, nursing, allied health, medical assistant, and certified nursing assistant programs. StudyBuddy Scholars receive a full discount to enroll in the TEAS or HESI prep courses required for nursing school admission and professional licensure for up to 10 weeks.

Recipients are selected twice a year, in the spring and fall. Patricia is one of 25 PTK members to receive the award this spring. Up to 55 recipients will receive the award each year.

“We are so proud to be able to offer this scholarship benefit to our healthcare majors so they can better prepare for these exams leading to nursing school,” said Dr. Monica Marlowe, Executive Director of the Phi Theta Kappa Foundation and PTK Chief of Staff. “A discount on these prep courses will save them money both now and long-term as they will have a better chance at passing these exams on the first attempt. Congratulations to the recipients!”

 

Apply for TRIO Student Support Services

TRIO-Student Support Services would like to remind current students it’s not too late to apply at www.cpcc.edu/trio.

TRIO-Student Support Services is an academic support program offering success coaching, financial literacy instruction, college transfer information, tutoring, and more for students who qualify. We are open year-round and are happy to see you virtually and in person.  Call us at 704.330.6394 or visit www.cpcc.edu/trio

Campus Bookstore is Hiring!

Join the campus bookstore team today!

Employee perks include:

  • flexible scheduling
  • sick time accrual from date of hire
  • competitive pay and additional earning opportunities
  • FREE bartleby Learn & Write subscriptions for the fall term
  • generous employee discounts – including course materials
  • management development program opportunities
  • the opportunity to add customer service and sales to your resume

Visit bncollegejobs.com and apply today!

Having Trouble Viewing the College Catalog?

It has come to our attention that some employees and students are having difficulty accessing/opening the college catalog. To best access the catalog, please view it with Firefox or Chrome. If the problem persists, it may be a caching issue. To clear your computer’s cache/cookies, please use the following steps:

Internet Explorer (Personal Computer (PC))

  • Select the Tools bar.
  • Select Internet Options.
  • Select General Tab.
  • Go to the Browsing history section on that tab. Select Delete.
  • Make sure the following boxes are checked at minimum: “Temporary Internet files and website files,” “Cookies and website data,” and “History.”
  • Select Delete.

Chrome

  • In the Chrome main menu, select More .
  • Select More tools Clear browsing data.
  • Choose a time range. To delete everything, select All time.
  • Select “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and files.”
  • Select Clear data.

Firefox

  • Select the Tools bar.
  • Select Options (On Mac, it’s labeled Preferences).
  • Select Privacy and Security from the menu.
  • Under the Cookies and Site Data option, select “Clear Data…” 
  • Select only the two options and select clear now. 
  • For the changes to take effect: if on a Windows computer, close and re-open Firefox; if on an Apple computer, go to the Firefox menu in the menu bar and select Quit.

 Safari (Mac)

  • Open Finder. From the Go menu, select Go to Folder.
  • A box will pop up. Type in ~/Library/Caches/ and then select Go.
  • Your system, or library, caches will appear.
  • Here you can open up each folder and delete unneeded cache files by moving them to the Trash and then emptying it.

If you continue to experience issues, please email helpdesk@cpcc.edu.

Chromebooks and Hotspots for the Fall Semester

female student sitting outside with mask in front of laptop

Effective immediately, all student hotspots and Chromebooks will be managed by the library. Student hotspots and Chromebooks will be made available at all campus libraries for checkout. View all campus hours and locations. 

Hotspots will be checked out for one semester at a time. Most of the Chromebooks will also be available for one semester at a time. Hotspots and Chromebooks will be available for checkout at your local campus library starting August 9, 2021.

All student hotspots and laptops will be due back to the library on or before the last day of the fall semester (December 10, 2021).

The number of available equipment is limited and available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Please be aware we are not able to take reservations, either online or over the phone. 

For questions, please email Martin House at martin.house@cpcc.edu.

 

There’s Still Time to Get Fully Vaccinated by the Fall Semester

orange graphic COVID 19

Per the Governor’s executive order in May 2021, Central Piedmont is not imposing any COVID-19 restrictions beyond those the Governor specified.

That means when the fall semester starts next month, our campus will look like fall 2019: Face coverings and social distancing protocols — while still encouraged for unvaccinated people — will not be required by the college.

If you’re currently unvaccinated and are considering receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, here’s a fast fact to ponder: If you receive the vaccine as early as this week, you’ll be fully vaccinated by the time the fall semester starts on August 16. 

Knowing this, we invite you to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine. Visit the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 response Web site or access the following vaccine resources: StarMed Health, Walgreens, CVS, Novant Health, and Atrium Health.

Your well-being is essential to us; therefore, we encourage you to make the decision that’s best for you.

Alumnus Competing in Tokyo Olympics

Zach Lokken on the water in canoe

Photo Credit: AP

Central Piedmont alumnus Zach Lokken ’21 will represent Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, July 23 – August 8. The Associate in Arts graduate will compete in the MC-1 Canoe Slalom event during his first Olympics appearance.

Born in Durango, Colo., Zach has won several awards in the sport of American Canoe, including third place in C1 and C2 during the 2015 U.S. National Team Trials.

When he’s not hitting the rapids, he enjoys skiing and longboarding.

Learn more about Zach.

WCNC-TV News Story: View the complete list of local athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympic games.

Central Piedmont Art Gallery Scholarship Program

Gorelick Galleries at levine

The Central Piedmont Art Gallery Scholarship Program is an opportunity for current students at Central Piedmont to volunteer with the Arts Galleries Program to build leadership skills and gain valuable educational experience. Volunteers will learn about the daily operations of art galleries, explore possible careers in art-related fields, and share a passion for visual arts with others.

Opportunities:
– Limited and awarded based on skills and qualification of the applicant.
– Available with the Ross and Overcash Galleries and the Patty and Bill Gorelick Galleries at Central Piedmont.
– Students are expected to complete 5 to 10 hours a week during the semester.
– Students are expected to commit to both the fall and spring semester.
– Opportunities during the summer term may also be available.

Provided by the Central Piedmont Foundation, a scholarship of $2,000 is available to student volunteers accepted into this program for the 2021-2022 academic year. Please complete the application.

Please note: This application will close at midnight on July 17. Interviews will be held the first week of August. 2021.

Study Abroad in Summer 2022

Imagine yourself in another country this time next year!  The Global Learning Office is resuming international travel in summer of 2022.  We are excited to announce our upcoming study abroad programs and destinations: Greece, British Isles, South Africa and Costa Rica. Each program is short-term and faculty-led. Applications are now open for students so be sure to check out the study abroad website to learn more.

Additionally, our North Carolina Scholars of Global Distinction Program continues to take student applications on a rolling basis. This honors program allows participants to expand intercultural awareness and global relevance of their college studies. Students will learn leadership skills and build resume credentials that set them apart in today’s competitive job market. Check out this NC Scholars Video to learn more and contact the Global Learning Office with any questions!

Introducing the Student Voices Survey Series

student looking at computer screen

We want to hear from you — your opinions of and experiences at Central Piedmont are so important to us! That’s why we developed the Student Voices Survey Series. It’s from our Planning and Research team and will be made available to students at the end of the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Each student will receive one survey; however, the type of survey in the series will depend on the student. There are currently four surveys in the series (New Student Survey, Continuing Student Survey, Graduate Survey, Alumni Survey).

As a thank you for participating in this survey series, you will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card. Each survey in the series will have a separate drawing for a gift card. The survey links will be emailed to your Central Piedmont account and we will use that email for the drawing. Once you complete the survey, we will receive a notification and will enter your email into the drawing.

An invitation to complete your assigned survey will be sent to your Central Piedmont email account. A link to your individual survey will be sent at the end of each semester that you are a student and for at least three years after graduation as an alumni. View a description of the surveys and when you will take each one.

Your voice is crucial! The surveys are meant to capture key pieces of information from students at specific points during their time at Central Piedmont and the data we gather will be used for creating a successful student experience. 

Survey results are not intended for individual intervention and will not contain identifying information.

The only exception to this is the Graduate Survey which includes questions to gather information for future contact. Providing contact information is completely voluntary and will only be used to contact alumni for alumni activities. No reference to individual survey responses will be used.

If you have any questions regarding the Student Voices Survey Series, please contact Catherine Garcia, executive director of Planning and Research, at catherine.garcia@cpcc.edu