As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, colleges and universities around the country have had to adapt on the fly to a situation that can change at a moment’s notice.
Clovis Community College has been no different. Now in its fifth week since the school transitioned to online learning on March 20, faculty have been using video chat software Zoom to conduct classes and host open office hours, according to a release from the college.
“All of the college’s faculty, staff, and administrators are servant leaders as they worked tirelessly to transition online in a matter of days to ensure students can continue their educational studies with no disruption,” Clovis Community Director of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Babb said.
“All departments are serving students via online, phone, or email. Our students are heroes for embracing the new online education platform overnight to continue their educational goals.”
But the transition to online has led to some unfortunate consequences for some students.
Since online classes started, 147 students (or about 2 percent of the school’s Spring semester student body) have dropped all of their courses, the release stated.
Clovis Community said its counseling team is continuing to keep in contact with these students and encouraging them to return in the fall when on-site instruction is scheduled to resume. That is subject to change however due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The school recently sent out a survey to gauge how students are dealing with distance learning.
According to the results, some of the challenges include that slightly more than 70% of students are concerned about performing well in their courses; over a third are experiencing social isolation and over half state that there are too many distractions to study while at home.
But there have been some highlights as well.
Approximately 75 percent of students are confident that they have everything they need to be successful in their school work in the online learning environment, and more than 80% of non-graduating students said they are planning on enrolling in classes for the fall semester.
Those interested in summer school can register now and all classes will be online.
Other highlights of the transition include having the library and learning center fully operational and online for students to use.
Students who did not own a laptop computer were able to check one out and were provided information about low-cost and free Internet services.
Additionally, the Crush Food Pantry remains open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the campus located on Herndon. Social distancing is practiced with curbside pickup.
Clovis Community College President Dr. Lori Bennett said she was thankful to all those involved in keeping all operations of the school running as smoothly as possible in less than ideal circumstances.
“We continue to navigate these uncharted territories together as a team,” Bennett said. “The more I embrace working online, the more I am humbled by the amount of effort that everyone is doing to create successful educational opportunities and support systems for our students. We appreciate our students and are here to help.”