The COVID-19 pandemic has brought much stress both globally and locally. Many schools in the local area have closed down and essentially moved all of their classes online.
Recently, Delta College notified students and staff that campus will be closed indefinitely, which has raised questions over whether online schooling will last to the summer.
“For summer courses, we have already planned for almost all of them to be online, with the exception of some essential trades,” said Alex Brietler, Delta’s director of marketing, communications and outreach. “For those trades, we will continue to evaluate whether they can be offered in-person as summer session gets closer. Many of our summer classes will be starting June 22. We’re excited to be able to offer a summer session that is almost entirely online.”
Delta College is hoping to get some in-person, lab-based classes back during the summer session. Nursing and Police Academy training programs are specifically being looked into to be brought back for summer classes.
In the meantime, students are left to adjust to a new normal.
The adaptation to online classes has been a struggle for most students already.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I would hope that it doesn’t exceed that long because I feel like we wouldn’t be held accountable for everything class wise,” said student Makayla Johnson.
Some students have questions about what the campus closure means for their class schedules, whether classes will have to be postponed, they’ll have to adjust to online classes for longer than they expected, or if the adjustments could start affecting their education.
Within the past week, students were able to start enrolling for summer classes — bringing questions over what might happen moving forward. With the current semester soon coming to an end the summer session comes in mind and where the status of online classes will be by then.
“I was able to sign up for my classes but the only thing was that the classes were still online,”said student Madeline Parker. “What if this clears up and we get the clear? Are we still going to be online until the fall?”
Prioritizing faculty and student needs is where the balance may get thrown off as plans are now having to be rearranged and new ways to correspond with each other have to be taken into consideration.
Delta College has released press announcements on their website, providing
information for students and offering the help they may need. The COVID-19 information page is also divided into sections for both faculty and staff giving updates for both parties.
“Online school hasn’t been that bad,” said student Audrey Lopez. “Some of us were full time students online already, but everyone who were full time students going to actual school, of course it’s going to be an adjustment. It’s a tough time for everyone and being patient should be our main priority.”
For some students the online adjustment hasn’t been too much of a struggle but finding the motivation to continue and having the right resources comes hand in hand.
Students are trying their best to explain their experiences so there is some type of support system for others. Delta has now offered online tutoring sessions available for students who need the extra help and when it comes to signing up for new classes counselors are now available for meetings through Zoom, an online video conferencing service.
Parker isn’t going to let the challenges this semester presents get in the way. “I debated if I wanted to take summer classes because of what is going on but I shouldn’t let the situation get in the way of my education,” Parker said. “Yeah it may be hard but pushing through it is what’s going to get us through it.”