Updates regarding coronavirus COVID-19

Important update 15-3-2020: Community update by the President of Anatolia College

Dear Members of the Anatolia College Community,

True to our fundamental legacy, Anatolia College remains committed to delivering innovative educational approaches in a safe and healthy environment.

From the first minute that the coronavirus disease became public, my administration began contingency planning to develop a comprehensive action plan to address expected disruptions in our campus operations. In this effort, we finalized our ongoing efforts to provide on-line instruction to all academic divisions. These programs have already gone live and will continue to evolve as we work through the first series of implementation. Furthermore, to ensure the safety of our staff, we prepared the transition for them to work remotely from their homes.

Initial action steps also safeguarded the health and security of our students, faculty and staff while ensuring that classes continued as normal. To this end, we sent timely updates to our community concerning the virus and provided sanitation gels, posted recommended health measures, and increased cleaning and disinfecting activities throughout all our campuses. Our official web pages and social media provided timely updates to parents and students as developments evolved. Our main priority was to keep our community safe and all schools open as we dealt with daily issues concerning the spread of the virus. At this time, there is no known member of our student body, faculty or staff that has been infected with the virus.

Once the Greek government announced that all schools would close for two weeks, we quickly reacted and began implementation of our contingency plan which included announcements to parents and students via email as well as through our web page and social media outlets. We limited access to our campuses to only those staff members considered essential for the continued operations of the institution. We also moved quickly to dispel false rumors that circulated publicly that a member of our community had been infected with the virus. All of these actions were taken swiftly and effectively to ensure our community that all possible and reasonable actions were being taken by the School.

We understand that this unprecedented global crisis presents a challenge for our community and that distance learning cannot support all approaches in a classroom environment but, we are confident that with good cooperation we will address all issues that may arise. Thanks to the dedication of our teachers and staff and the response of our students, the educational process will continue smoothly for as long as the suspension lasts.

In view of recent developments that include new measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease and, in order to protect our staff and faculty’s well-being, we took the decision for immediate transition to distance work apart from those positions that are absolutely necessary for the smooth functioning of the school and require the physical presence of the staff member. We have, of course, taken all measures to ensure that communication with our administrations continues as normal.

I feel the need to acknowledge the dedication of all my colleagues to the quick and effective adaptation to these new conditions. I also want to thank all of you for your understanding, patience and cooperation during this challenging period.

I am sure that each of us acknowledges the uniqueness of this period and urge each one of you to take all necessary measures to protect your health and those around us. It is my sincere hope that we will soon return to normalcy.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Panos Vlachos
Anatolia College President