By Fred Ortlip
The Scene staff
In his second “virtual town hall,” St. Louis Community College Chancellor Jeff Pittman discussed how the college is responding to the evolving challenges of COVID-19, including updates on when employees might return to work, the budget, spring commencement, planning for fall semester and whether any layoffs or furloughs are being considered.
The town hall on May 8 again took the form of a Zoom presentation. Pittman offered praise to faculty members forced to adjust quickly this spring to an online learning environment and sympathized with their plight in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
“On the leadership team we joke because we have so many meetings,” he said. “We feel like we’re living out the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ … because we get up every day and it kind of feels the same. But I know that all of you are going through that. These are really difficult times. We empathize with and just appreciate you so much and just encourage you to hang in there as we go through these times and will continue to keep you updated as we work through, battling and winning the COVID-19 battle.”
The town hall featured interpreters for the hearing impaired, and the college later apologized for technical glitches with the network feed that led to freeze-ups and hard-to-read PowerPoint slides.
Though STLCC’s spring semester is ending, the upending of life as we know it only adds to the challenges ahead for administrators planning for a summer online curriculum and plenty of unknowns for fall.
Pittman lamented that for the first time in his 34 years in higher education, he wouldn’t be participating in a live commencement ceremony. He announced that content from a virtual commencement that evening (Friday) would be posted at stlcc.edu/commencement and include social media uploads of graduates celebrating on their own.
Given that diplomas won’t be handed out in person at Chaifetz Arena in front of family and friends, Pittman said, “I can’t imagine how disappointed the students are, how disappointed the faculty and staff are. I know this is kind of a gut-wrenching moment for us.”
The college is holding out hope it can conduct a live ceremony in December to include spring graduates.
CARES ACT AND OTHER FUNDING
Pittman announced that in addition to the first round of federal CARES Act funding, the college received $430,000 last week in money earmarked for historically black colleges and universities. He said administrators are awaiting more details on how that money can be spent.
The college got $8.27 million in CARES Act funding and is targeting $4.4 million, per Department of Education guidelines, as direct aid to students. That includes $1,000 to lower-income students enrolled in more than six hours of classes, $500 to those enrolled in fewer than six hours and an additional $500 to those eligible for Pell grants. The remaining $1 million of that fund will take the form of student grants.
The college’s stackable credentials team is studying workforce data to develop short-term training programs to help some students expedite the earning of associate’s degrees. This is in response to “some sectors that, despite the high unemployment right now, they’re desperate for certain types of workers,” Pittman said. Those sectors include financial institutions, allied health occupations and technology and information technology.
Several other teams are preparing for fall semester and mapping out scenarios in which faculty and staff return to campuses.
Pittman said the college may hear as soon as May 18 whether employees will be able to return to work, “but I am certain that we will not all be able to work return to work, and will have to continue to have many of our employees work remotely through this time.”
He acknowledged that if students are allowed to return in the fall that social distancing will be required. Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control may also include the wearing of masks and other personal protection equipment. Safety training for faculty and staff will be developed before their return.
Information technology workers are developing mobile application products so students can register for classes on mobile devices. An upgrade to the college’s Banner software is also in the works.
Later Friday, Missouri lawmakers passed a stripped-down budget, hoping that federal dollars coming in will prevent cuts to state colleges and universities. They face a 10% reduction if that funding fails to pan out.
“As it stands, we are looking at no cuts to our budget out of the legislative branch, but we have to wait and see what the executive branch will do,” Pittman said. “So the potential good news that could happen for us – we may receive up to $1 billion to Missouri from our federal government that can be used in a wide variety of ways.”
Pittman reported that STLCC’s student head count for spring was down by 11%; summer credit hours are down 6%; and the projected decline for fall is about 18%, “although I know we’re relatively early.”
Efforts are being made to contact students by phone to answer questions and get more of them enrolled in online classes. “Summer’s challenging for a lot of students,” Pittman said. “Most of our students are used to coming to our campuses.”
Study groups are formulating recommendations for fall semester, Pittman said, and some could involve “creative venues for some of our — what we consider essential on-ground classes, particularly in health care — as we need to graduate as many students as we can.”
ANSWERS TO FACULTY QUESTIONS
The chancellor responded to several pre-submitted questions from faculty members:
- Why are only common areas and not offices being deep-cleaned? Cleaning of offices is in the works, following CDC guidelines. Pittman noted that buildings have been sitting empty for several weeks and that the virus dies off on surfaces. “That will certainly help the cleaning staff in the event there were any viruses brought into the campuses,” he said.
- Any thought to offering four-year degrees? “We are moving ahead with a new degree proposal in respiratory and therapy assistance, and we’ll be sending that proposal in July 1,” Pittman said, adding that STLCC is among eight community colleges that will each submit a proposal. “We do have to work with the universities to see if they’re willing to partner with us and to what level.”
- Does the college have any special accommodations for faculty and staff who might be at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19? The college has guidelines available through human resources. “As we come back, we will not all be running back here on May 18, if that’s the day we’re announced to come back,” Pittman said. “We will be bringing people back slowly and rotating people in and out of the college.”
- Will employees in higher-risk groups be able to continue working at home? Yes. “We all have to realize, we’re all in a new reality in regards to how we do our work,” Pittman said. “COVID-19 will change the way we work forever. We will be adjusting and accommodating in whatever way we can to help individuals.”
- Have many employees been infected by COVID-19? Health care officials cannot legally report on individuals associated with STLCC who have been infected. A few have self-reported but “those numbers have been very very low, Pittman said. “For students, they’ve been less than 10 and for faculty and staff, less than five.”
- How is the college marketing to the community amid the pandemic? Aggressively, Pittman said, adding: “A lot of colleges have pretty much stopped, but we’re continuing on.” A summer campaign includes a take-one-class-get-one-free option, and more than 1,000 students have signed up. In addition to the regular enrollment campaign, the college is working on a stay-local campaign, mailing information to all students currently enrolled in universities in the region and emphasizing STLCC’s affordability compared to many four-year institutions. A list of short-term training certificates that individuals can earn is being made available as well.
- Is it possible to offer more hybrid courses in fall if face-to-face classes can’t be held? Yes. Procedures are being developed for such courses, and faculty members have suggested the concept of real-time classes using Blackboard’s Collaborate feature for online instruction. “That would get students more into a regular pace, where they can see you virtually, at least face-to-face,” Pittman said. Some students are expected back to get skills training in labs and clinicals.
- Is the college considering furloughs or layoffs? At this time, no. “We’re trying to speculate and maybe guess a little bit about what the budget might be,” Pittman said. “We’ve not been discussing furloughs or laying employees off at this time.” A COVID-19 budget response team is coming up with ideas, including the possibility of another voluntary-separation incentive for faculty and staff, he said.