It may not have the comforts of home, but Northern Essex Community College students requiring reliable internet and a quiet place to study may use campus parking lots in Haverhill and Lawrence.
Wi-Fi coverage is provided at the Technology Center, Student Center and Library parking lots in Haverhill and the Dimitry Building, El-Hefni Allied Health Technology Center and Haffner Education Center parking lots in Lawrence.
“We want to make sure that our students have access to the technology that will help them be successful,” said Danny Rivera, assistant director of client technology and media services.
Students were surveyed last spring after the pandemic outbreak to find out what challenges they were having with remote learning. Tallying results, the college learned some students were struggling with spotty internet access from home and/or finding a quiet place to study.
Students, faculty, and staff may log-in with college-assigned credentials and those not attending Northern Essex may choose the “visitor” wireless network.
Northern Essex decided early that 90% of the fall semester would be online with a very limited number of courses, primarily health and science labs, offered face-to-face. The institution also announced recently the spring Semester, which begins Jan 22, will also be almost completely online. Only those courses that require a face-to-face component—primarily Health and STEM courses—will be offered on campus. Registration for the spring begins Nov 2.