PASADENA, Texas - San Jacinto College resumed classes and normal business operations on Monday, September 29, 2008 with a plan to successfully get students through the Fall semester on an unchanged academic calendar.

The first challenge was to get the campuses open and Dr. Ron Rucker, San Jacinto College associate vice chancellor of administration, and his team, along with several contractors, pulled off a herculean task to open the college.

“Ron Rucker worked before the storm and had prepared a recovery plan which was implemented two days before the storm hit,” said Dr. Bill Lindemann, San Jacinto College chancellor.  “Ron, his team, and contractors did nothing short of a miracle to get the all the campus buildings open so classes could begin on the 29th.”

In addition to getting the buildings operational, the instructional leaders worked to develop a plan to get students successfully through the Fall semester. They came up with an innovative plan to complete all courses, complete 100 per cent of the learning objectives, and finish the semester according to the existing academic calendar.

“We didn’t want to burden students who have already suffered so much with a difficult schedule to finish the fall semester,” said Dr. Laurel Williamson, vice chancellor of instruction and student services.  “There are some students who will need to extend the semester because of the strict requirements of their program, such as nursing and cosmetology, but most students will finish according to the current academic calendar.”

The innovative plan to complete all course instruction without extending the calendar needed approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and the accrediting agency (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) to be implemented.  The plan was presented and approved.  In fact, in an e-mail response, Susan Brown, assistant commissioner of planning and accountability for THECB said the plan was wonderful.

Understanding that students are going through significant challenges, College employees are on hand to help students wherever possible.  Tutoring has always been available for students, and the college is increasing the number of tutors available and the hours of operation.  The counseling centers on each campus are also prepared to assist students as recovery from the storm continues. The San Jacinto College Foundation Board of Directors approved an emergency fund to assist students who no longer have textbooks because of Hurricane Ike.

Important information as well as the revised academic calendar, is available on the website at http://www.sanjac.edu/. Answers to many frequently asked questions by students and employees are also on the website under the Hurricane Ike recovery link.

“We have several students and employees who are dealing with very extreme circumstances, and we want to do what we can to help students stay on track with their goals. We encourage our students to discuss their individual needs with their faculty and work with our counselors who are prepared to take quick actions that will enable them to complete the semester and also successfully address personal issues,” added Lindemann.