{"id":6449,"date":"2021-03-03T09:52:04","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T14:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6449"},"modified":"2025-08-23T19:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T23:06:09","slug":"covid-19-leaves-lasting-impact-on-local-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/03\/03\/covid-19-leaves-lasting-impact-on-local-college\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Leaves Lasting Impact on Local College"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In March 2020, a brutal tidal wave hit York County Community College in Wells, Maine. Now, almost a year later, silver linings are emerging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0YCCC\u2019s academic dean, Doreen Rogan, D.A., believes in some ways the college was ready for the impact of COVID. \u201cWe lucked out\u2026.\u00a0 Community colleges in general, and YCCC in particular, we\u2019ve been doing online instruction for over 20 years.\u201d Forty percent of students took online classes before COVID. The college had an eLearning support specialist in place. Instructors were using a new online learning program better suited for smartphones. Despite luck, challenges made an unexpected and lasting impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Student Success Commons’ tutors Zoom to welcome students to spring semester, York County Community College, Wells, Maine, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by YCCC)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0YCCC was on spring break at the beginning of March 2020 when safety concerns began to surface in Maine. Rogan said, “It was like every moment there was breaking news and we were all trying to figure out what to do and how to react.” Students and instructors were traveling. A canceled conference stranded culinary chair and chef, Krista Marvel, M.B.A., in New Orleans. With anxiety increasing, the college extended break for a week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On March 16, one email ended all in-person instruction. Rogan remembers that a tidal wave hit online support. Marvel worried about the hands-on culinary students. The college scrambled to get computers to students and instructors in need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan said, “In parts of this county, we may think of ourselves as fairly affluent.” She continued, \u201cFrom town to town, that\u2019s not true for every individual in it. But it\u2019s also not true that we all have the same Wi-Fi access or internet access in different parts of the county.\u201d YCCC made Wi-Fi available in the parking lot. Rogan described it as heartbreaking to see students, but not be able to interact with them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan said that COVID changed everything. “We really wanted to acknowledge that not only instruction had changed, but everyone’s lives had changed. Students no longer could pay attention to school in the way they thought they could.\u201d The college offered an optional grading process. No one received academic probation or dismissal. Grades were incomplete for months. Labs continued in the summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel said that closing the labs in March was perfect timing, although unplanned. Specialty classes had finished before break. The remaining students were mostly first-year students. They had finished midterms and food safety certifications before break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although the timing was perfect, going online for these students was devastating. Most of them had never taken an online class. They were hands-on students, and now they had four or five online classes. Marvel said, “It was very hard for them to make the transition\u2026.\u00a0 They were disappointed, scared, worried\u2026exhausted.” Many students did not continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From her personal kitchen, Chef Krista Marvel prepares a live Zoom class for the first day of spring semester at York County Community College, Wells, Maine, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. (Photo by Krista Marvel)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finishing the spring semester was challenging. Each half-hour video Marvel produced took eight to 10 hours to shoot. Students never returned to the lab. They picked up ingredients curbside until no longer allowed. Food shortages were a problem. Chefs used recipes they knew well enough to grade taste by sight. Eventually labs stopped since students did not have the ingredients.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel said spring was difficult but \u201cMy fall was brutal.\u201d Catching the students up from fall added pressure. Marvel taught back-to-back classes in the lab two days each week. She would arrive by 7 a.m. and leave at 10 p.m. Her voice was weak by the end of the night and her face rubbed raw from her mask. The students were eager and put in extra time. They were afraid that each day would be their last in the lab.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan acknowledged loss for the college community. Some students and instructors chose not to take part in online classes. Some students lost the traditional college experience with\u00a0 camaraderie and teamwork.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan said that YCCC is providing great online instruction and student support. She said, \u201cI still think they are missing some of\u2026the things you just learn from being around each other and working on projects together.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan admitted that she had a difficulty accepting change for herself. Continuing to go to the campus five days each week for eight months, she was often alone or with a couple of others in the building. Rogan misses not being able to pop out of her office to pull a creative team together. She said that she feels lucky to have a long history with her group, but she wonders how someone new would integrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel also teaches in the hospitality programs at YCCC. She expressed concern that COVID bubbles will affect guest relations. Marvel said, “We have lost our ability of how to connect with people, to listen, of how to engage with them.” Enrollment was too low at YCCC to support offering hospitality classes this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel believes hospitality management will need more technology support due to COVID. Maine’s tourism industry needs shape curriculum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan talked about the gains and silver linings of COVID\u2019s challenges. The intake process is now completely online, including placement testing. Potential students Zoom with program chairs and new students attend virtual orientation. For instructors, professional development features national speakers without constraints of time and travel. Software makes exceptional online science labs possible. Instructors discovered classes that adapt well to online learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For the spring 2021 semester, Marvel tried live Zoom culinary labs. The students love them. They follow her demo and create at home. CARES Act funds allowed students to buy ingredients. Now she imagines ways to integrate technology into future classes. She cautioned that integrating technology may not work for everyone. “For every group of students that we say technology…this is the answer, there’s a group of students, especially within the community college system, we risk leaving behind.” Marvel explained that some students do not have reliable internet. Food insecurity is a major problem for others. Rather than ask for help, students drop out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel’s students have amazed her. They persist and grow. She wonders if the idea of individual learning styles is too restrictive. COVID\u2019s impact and barriers broken have made her rethink old labels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the essential labs meet in-person now, things are far from the old normal. Students report their health using an app. Security takes temperatures at the door. Masks are mandatory. COVID dictates class size and room assignments. An instructor may teach one class spread between two adjoining rooms. Another instructor observes a student from behind a rolling plexiglass partition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Marvel said that all are doing their best. She asked for grace and understanding for teachers taking on multiples roles. “We got put into this giant snow globe, shook it up, and said \u2018go learn.\u2019 It’s amazing how resilient our students and instructors are.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rogan is confident that YCCC has remained true to its mission. YCCC still provides academic, transfer and career programs that people want and need. Culinary, veterinary technology, precision machining technology and medical assisting labs continue. Workforce development is providing career training and creating community partnerships. Rogan summed up YCCC’s commitment to student success and reaction to COVID’s challenges. \u201cWe got creative and we are doing what we are meant to do\u2026.\u00a0 We have learned a lot of good things from it.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In March 2020, a brutal tidal wave hit York County Community College in Wells, Maine. Now, almost a year later, silver linings are emerging.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0YCCC\u2019s academic dean, Doreen Rogan, D.A., believes in some ways the college was ready for the impact of COVID. \u201cWe lucked out\u2026.\u00a0 Community colleges in general, and YCCC in particular, we\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8317,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6449\/revisions\/8317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}