Dear CSN Family,
I am pleased to report that summer enrollment is underway, and it does not appear to be slowing down. Currently, enrollment for this summer is tracking with last year’s enrollment. We are about one-third full so far. That is excellent news for CSN and our students.
Our Academic Affairs team is working hard to transition all on-campus summer classes to the online environment or pushing them into the latter part of the summer session. As you know, all NSHE institutions have been directed to remain in a remote teaching and learning environment until at least June 30 for the vast majority of our classes.
In accordance with the governor’s and NSHE directives, we are looking to continue our in-person emergency management services instruction and paramedic training. We are also hoping to get our health sciences students back on campus to continue lab experiences that cannot be completed virtually. These programs are the only areas that will be allowed back to campus for instruction before July 1 and are part of the state plan to accelerate graduation of health professionals to assist in the COVID-19 battle.
There may be good news soon for students who need to take placement exams. Because Accuplacer tests cannot be administered off-campus, we have been searching for a solution. We are nearly ready to deploy Aleks PPL as the new math placement tool, which can be deployed remotely — the estimated launch is next week. If you have questions about this launch, summer classes or anything else please attend our Virtual Town Hall this Friday.
Lastly, our CSN Libraries and librarians have been true advocates for students these past few weeks. Anyone with questions about remote library services should visit their website.
Since we transitioned to a remote environment, the libraries have:
- received and responded to 41 email tickets,
- engaged in 168 online chats for a total of 46.2 hours of live one-on-one librarian assistance,
- and filled 35 textbook requests, which required staff to come to campus to collect and send the materials to students.
The work continues and together we continue to be Vegas Strong and CSN Proud.
Stay safe and God bless.
Federico Zaragoza
President
College of Southern Nevada