Sierra College declares emergency over coronavirus, limits access to 4 California campuses

Sierra College on Monday declared a state of emergency and is limiting who can access its campuses, according to officials.

Hours later the University of California at Berkeley announced it would be suspending most in-person classes, starting Tuesday.

Sierra College officials are limiting access to the system’s s four campuses for the month of March.. Only registered students, faculty, staff and affiliates are authorized on the campuses, according to the college’s website.

“This declaration also allows us to take actions outlined by the California Department of Public Health and distributed by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office to provide instruction remotely and support continuity of instruction,” read the statement.

Instruction will continue for the college’s 20,000 students. But by Wednesday, faculty should be prepared to provide instruction remotely, including labs and other activities. The college district will determine which labs will remain on site.

By March 18, all campuses are expected to be online under a campus learning system called Canvas.

Instructional field trips, travel for classes, all community events held on campus and student club events are canceled for March.

All athletic competitions are still scheduled but without spectators. Travel and away games are continuing for now, according to the district’s statement.

The four-campus college serves students at locations in Rocklin, Roseville, Grass Valley and Truckee.

The college district stated it took action after two Sierra College employees were exposed to the coronavirus. Both employees returned to work at the Rocklin campus administrative office after they were exposed, and were sent home once they were notified of the exposure. No one associated with Sierra College has tested positive for the virus, according to officials

Los Rios Community College District, which operates Cosumnes River College, American River, Folsom Lake and Sacramento City, has not yet made a decision similar to Sierra College. Los Rios officials are in the process of planning multiple scenarios including converting all classes to online.

Classes at UC Berkeley will be offered online until the end of March, according to the university’s announcement Monday afternoon. All large campus-sponsored events will be canceled or postponed. The university said there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus on the campus.

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 10:32 AM.