GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) and Kent District Library (KDL) have partnered together to provide students with more access to Wi-Fi closer to their homes.
KDL will start providing Wi-Fi access inside each of its 19 branches, and students should be able to connect in branch parking lots after hours.
The majority of GRCC classes offered during the Fall 2020 semester are online or include online components. The new partnership with KDL is one of several measures the college has taken to ensure students have the technology they need to take distance learning classes during the COVID-19 crisis.
“We don’t want a lack of access to technology to stand in the way of anyone getting a quality GRCC education,” GRCC President Bill Pink said in a release Tuesday. “I deeply appreciate the partnership with KDL. It has a long history of serving Kent County residents, and recognizes education will help our region recover from this crisis and grow stronger. This collaboration is one more way we can close a technology gap.”
KDL has branches throughout Kent County, with locations and hours available on its website. GRCC also is providing expanded Wi-Fi in the DeVos Campus parking lot.
Since the start of the pandemic, GRCC has provided hundreds of loaner laptops to students, along with hotspots, web cameras and other devices to connect and participate in classes.
Information about borrowing technology is available on the GRCC Library and Learning Commons website.
GRCC is also providing students with free tech support seven days a week. The hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
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