At FVCC students can choose what back-to-school looks like
“Coffee captain” Katryn Perry works at Common Grounds inside the Broussard Family Library and Learning Commons while wearing a face shield on Monday afternoon. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
Signs encouraing the use of face masks and a supply of face masks greet visitors to the Broussard Family Library and Learning Commons at Flathead Valley Community College. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
Makayla Otto and Brittany Lockhart walk through the campus at Flathead Valley Community College on Monday. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
Computers are spaced out at least six feet apart inside the Broussard Family Library and Learning Commons. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
A sign noting that masks are required upon entry hangs in front of the bookstore at Flathead Valley Community College. (Mackenzie Reiss/Daily Inter Lake)
Masks in classrooms.
Socially distant workstations.
Remote course offerings.
These are just a few of the changes Flathead Valley Community College is making this fall to ensure students can safely continue their classes despite the coronavirus pandemic. The college is providing three course modalities that students can select based on their level of comfort, including in-person, remote or online classes. Not all courses will be offered in multiple modalities.
In-person classes will look a little different this year to accommodate social-distancing requirements. Students will be spread out so they are seated six feet apart from each other, masks will be required in all campus buildings including classrooms, and certain courses have been split into multiple sections to reduce class sizes.
For students who choose to enroll remotely, they’ll be able to tune into interactive course lectures at specific times from their home computer or laptop. Online courses differ in that the material can be completed at any time. Select classes will also be offered in a six-week format.
“Our goal is to help our students be successful and make sure they can access all the resources and opportunities they had prior to the pandemic,” FVCC President Jane Karas said.
All staff members who were hired originally have been retained at this time, she noted, and instruction on how to provide online courses has been made available for faculty members.
To keep the classroom environment coronavirus-free, classrooms will be sanitized between uses and frequently touched areas such as doorknobs and lab spaces will be cleaned daily by custodial staff. Colored signs also will be posted outside of classroom doors, with red indicating the rooms haven’t been sanitized and green indicating it has been cleaned and is safe to enter, according to the school’s COVID-19 guidebook.
To formulate these protocols for campus safety in the age of COVID-19, Karas created a fall semester planning task force and worked closely with the Flathead City-County Health Department and the Montana University System.
“We are looking at — how can we help students be most successful in these challenging times?” she said.
FVCC’s student-focused approach will allow individuals to determine how their studies will look for the fall semester. The college has also gotten creative with its accommodations. For example, for select lab courses, students who want to work remotely have the option of taking a lab kit home.
“They can work virtually with a faculty member to do the lab at home,” Karas explained.
And in the welding area, students will now be required to reserve a time slot to ensure they’ll be socially distanced while working.
As for student housing, Karas said FVCC consulted with other campuses that offer similar accommodations, along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, to determine safety protocols. Masks will be required in common areas and no visitors will be allowed this year in order to limit the number of people in the apartments.
For students who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic, assistance is available in the form of FVCC’s COVID-19 Emergency Student Fund. The fund was established to help students stay in school who might otherwise not be able to.
“It could be that they’ve lost their job and they don’t have the funds to continue their education, it may impact their housing or their ability to purchase food, so those funds are available to help with that,” Karas said.
The school has also felt the financial strain of the pandemic. Thankfully, grant money received from the CARES Act has helped cover the cost of things such as equipping teachers with supplies for teaching remotely and has supported the student emergency fund.
“We know these are challenging times for everybody,” Karas said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to get some quality education in a safe environment and to do it in a way that they choose, whether they want to be on campus or off campus.”
Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com
