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Montana Tech in Butte monitoring coronavirus while students head out for spring break

Posted at 8:34 AM, Mar 12, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-12 16:20:30-04

With students at Montana Tech in Butte getting ready to go on spring break next week, it will give the campus time to prepare for possible action in case the coronavirus hits the area.

“It’s actually really fortuitous for us that spring break is happening right now. It gives opportunity for our faculty to really look at their course content, how much material is left before the end of the semester and what though options could be,” said Carrie Vath the Dean of Student Success.

If covid-19 proves to be a safety concern on the Butte campus, the school could cancel on-campus classes and instructors could teach classes remotely via computer.

“You would login at 10 a.m. on your desktop at your computer, the instructor would login and you would have class as though you were all together,” said Vath.

If the campus decides to make a change students and staff will be notified through an emergency response notification plan.

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“That will include email, text messages, website notices, anything that we can do to kind of blast and get that information out to our campus community,” said Vath.

Students here on the Butte campus say they are keeping informed about the coronavirus, and if students take the right precautions, it shouldn’t be an issue here.

“I think it’s something that should be in the back of our heads, but really not to worry too much about it, just kind of just do all the stuff that can save you from being sick: wash your hands the whole time and whatnot,” said student Dylan Sestrich of Butte.