By Jorge Casuso

September 22, 2020 -- For the next nine months, Santa Monica College (SMC) will continue offering its classes and support services primarily online, college officials announced Monday.

SMC's main campus and five satellite campuses will remain closed to the public until further notice due to the continuing coronavirus emergency, officials said.

“It is unlikely that a safe, widely available vaccine will appear this year,” said Superintendent/President Dr. Kathryn E. Jeffery. “The safety, health & wellbeing of SMC colleagues and students is the highest priority."

More than 700 classes will be offered online for the short Winter semester, which runs from January 4 to February 11, and more than 2,800 classes will be offered for the Spring semester, which runs from February 16 to June 15.

Spring classes represent 175 degree and certificate options, including 40 noncredit career development and college prep classes, school officials said.

SMC will offer "safe, limited access to practicum/lab tools" for instructional programs -- including Nursing, Respiratory Therapy and Media/Interaction Design -- that are deemed essential by the Governor’s Office, officials said.

The decisions were based on recommendations from SMC's Emergency Operations Team, which monitors the pandemic and is using the State's risk assessment system and County guidelines and requirements, Jeffery said.

The school will continue offering a counseling and student support network with more than 170 counselors that is considered the most comprehensive in California, officials said.

It also will continue offering a designated Wi-Fi area at its Bundy Campus for enrolled students, remote telehealth services, a free Chromebook loaner program for students and employees and "basic needs assistance" that includes a weekly pop-up drive-thru food pantry.

In addition, the SMC Foundation’s Meal Project has delivered more than 86,000 free meals via social enterprise Everytable to the homes of more than 12,180 students who need the assistance.

These include seniors, "housing insecure" students, veterans and former foster youth, officials said.

Needy students have also received financial assistance during the pandemic.

SMC has distributed some $2.6 million of the $6.1 million in federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) assistance to 5,000 students "disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," school officials said.

The college was also awarded another $6.1 million in federal funding to cover costs related to the transition to an online environment.

For more information on SMC’s response to the coronavirus, visit smc.edu/coronavirus.