Hello all,

As we conclude a successful summer semester and prepare for the fall, I want to update you on the status of courses for the Fall Semester.

At this time, we are being heavily influenced by the terrible news that COVID 19 is still expanding rapidly in over a dozen states and that there are predictions that the country could be facing the deaths of an additional 75,000 Americans by September.  Moreover, the scientists are still telling us that we are not out of the first wave of the virus and that the second wave will likely be upon us in mid-fall.  The only apparent way to reduce the spread of the virus continues to be sheltering in place and, if it is necessary to leave home, to wear a mask and avoid crowds.

These realities have reinforced our decision to keep the campus closed and to work and teach remotely until there is a vaccine available to all of our employees and students.  This is more and more likely not to be available until well into 2021 or beyond.

Therefore, we will continue using ZOOM for synchronous campus classes for the Fall Semester 2020. Based on the positive experiences of the Summer Semesters, we have expanded ZOOM courses to an evening schedule.  This will students more options for enrollment.  The first 14 evening courses will be offered Monday through Thursday beginning at 8:00 pm. (Eastern).

Our online course offerings will continue unchanged.  But the ZOOM classes offer another option for online students as well.  All students are welcome to combine online, day ZOOM and evening ZOOM classes depending on what works best for each student.

We have also expanded the hours and ways which students can access student support services.  Our Enrollment Advisors will be available from 8:30am to 9pm Monday -Thursday EST and 8:30am-4pm EST on Friday.  Students may work with Advisors via ZOOM, email or phone.

Registration for Fall Semester has already started so we look forward to planning with you!

Regards,
Tracy M. Lentz
Program Director
Director of Operations
Dean of Academic and Student Services

CORONAVIRUS (COVID 19) PANDEMIC CONCERNS

Dear AAMI Community:

For the past several weeks, AAMI has been studying the issues related to the worldwide Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic concerns and the potential impact on AAMI. COVID 19 has spread quickly across the country and recently new cases of the virus have been reported in the greater New York City area with some schools shutting down to protect their students and staff.
AAMI senior staff has been meeting daily this past week to discuss the steps that AAMI would need to take if the pandemic worsens. Today, we determined that it was time to take “preventative steps” to protect our campus students, faculty and staff from the widening impact of COVID 19.
AAMI will temporarily close the campus facilities (classrooms and offices) for the next two weeks (March 9 through 20). We will constantly evaluate the impact of this decision to ensure that it is working well. We will reevaluate the COVID 19 threat and the success of our closure effort during the second week to determine if the closure should continue.
AAMI will continue to operate at full capacity during the office closure. All classes will continue and all services will be available to students.
Online classes will not be affected because faculty and students already do all their work online and remotely.
Campus classes will be conducted via our telephone conferencing system. Students and faculty will remain at home but attend their classes by telephone conferencing. Printed materials normally handed out in class will be sent to students by email or U.S. mail. Assignments will be submitted to the instructor by email or US mail. Campus students and faculty will soon receive more details on how this will work.
Finally, AAMI staff has worked out the details of how virtually all of their job functions can be performed at home. Those that cannot will require several staff to travel to campus for a few hours several times a week.
I will keep you updated as we work our way through the rapidly changing pandemic threat. Thank you for your patience as we work out all of the details of operating the school under the current constraints.

Best Wish,
Tracy M. Lentz
Program Director

Contact us at info@aami.edu for details.