All HCTC Campuses Open for the Fall 2021 Semester

Jennifer Lindon, Ph.D.
President/CEO

The HCTC Fall 2021 semester begins August 16, 2021, with a variety of in-person, online, and hybrid-type courses available. All campuses, offices, classes, and labs are open for students. Please attend class as noted on your HCTC Class Schedule. If you are unsure of the mode of your course delivery, please contact the instructor listed on your schedule. At HCTC, we are committed to providing you with a safe and healthy learning environment. Last year, HCTC implemented effective COVID protocols that kept our students and employees as safe as possible, and we were able to continue teaching and learning both in-person and online. We are committed to continuing to creatively serve you and prepare you academically for your future. Vickie Combs will be serving as the HCTC Healthy at Work Coordinator this academic year. Both she and I will work together with faculty, staff, and students when COVID exposures in offices, classrooms, and labs occur. We will also work closely with KCTCS, the local health departments, and our HCTC Pandemic Coordinator, Lauren Bates, to ensure that we have the most up-to-date information out to you as situations develop.

See below for HCTC’s current COVID regulations and guidance as of August 13, 2021. 

1. Face masks or face coverings are required effective August 6, 2021, when indoors on all HCTC campuses. This rule is for visitors, students, faculty, and staff and is in place at all Kentucky Community and Technical Colleges until further notice.
2. All campuses, labs, classrooms, and offices are open for students for the fall semester.
3. Vaccinations are encouraged but NOT required by KCTCS or HCTC. Students, faculty, and staff may be required to obtain a vaccination if they are working in or performing a clinical in a location that requires the vaccine.
4. KCTCS personnel cannot require proof of vaccination from a student or another employee. However, the President and or the Healthy at Work Officer may request vaccination status when determining a course of action in various COVID situations.
5. Capacity restrictions are NOT currently required. However, we encourage social distancing as much as practical, typically 3 to 6 feet.
6. We have stations at each building’s main entrance with masks, hand sanitizer, and temperature scanners available for use.
7. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to maintain proper hand sanitization and refrain from shaking hands.
8. Plexi-glass is not required but may be utilized as precautionary in any office area, classroom, or lab.
9. Regular sanitization of classrooms, labs, etc. will be completed. Areas, where students will be present, will be cleaned daily. Misters will be utilized whenever there is a COVID exposure or COVID positive.
10. Faculty, staff, and students are asked to please stay home when sick or exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms (cough, fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, fatigue, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, i.e.) and to contact the appropriate supervisor and or instructor as soon as possible and stay home until cleared by the Healthy at Work Officer, Vickie Combs.
11. Faculty, staff, and students are required to report any COVID-19 exposures or COVID positive cases to the HCTC Healthy at Work Officer, Vickie Combs, as soon as possible and wait for further instructions and to be cleared to return before coming back on campus.  

If you have a question, please reach out to Vickie Combs, HCTC Healthy at Work Officer at Vickie.Combs@kctcs.edu or me. Please note that all HCTC COVID guidelines are subject to change so monitor your email, Facebook, and the web frequently. We have a COVID link at the top of our HCTC web page that is currently being updated before the fall term begins at hazard.kctcs.edu. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you on campus!