Community Colleges' Responses to COVID-19

What Worked, What Did Not Work, and Lessons Learned

Deborah L. Floyd, Christopher M. Mullin, Gianna Ramdin, Deborah L. Floyd, Christopher M. Mullin, Gianna Ramdin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781032285115
• eBook ISBN: 9781000630930
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sozialwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Bildung Allgemein

In 2021, community college practitioners, scholars, researchers, and leaders documented the challenge of what worked, what did not work, and lessons learned during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This book summarizes the works of 39 authors who collectively wrote 14 peer reviewed papers in areas of leadership, curriculum, funding, social and racial tension, technology and digital access, self, family and community, and health and safety. Readers are challenged to embrace this era with innovative zeal and to continue to document community colleges' evolutionary changes during this pandemic era. The book will be useful to higher education practitioners, scholars, and leaders, as well as individuals in organizations who are interested in how community colleges responded to challenges of change during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Community College Journal of Research and Practice.

Community Colleges Evolve during the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Worked, What Did Not Work, and Lessons Learned

Deborah L. Floyd, Christopher M. Mullin

, and Gianna Ramdin

ABSTRACT

In 2021, community college practitioners, scholars, researchers, and leaders accepted a challenge to document what worked, what did not work, and lessons learned during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. This article summarizes the works of 39 authors who collectively wrote 14 peer reviewed papers in areas of leadership, curriculum, funding, social and racial tension, technology and digital access, self, family and community, and health and safety. Readers are challenged to embrace this era with innovative zeal and to continue to document community colleges’ evolutionary changes during this pandemic era.

In a few short weeks in early 2020, life as we knew it came to a halt. COVID-19 spread worldwide, shutting down countries, cities, towns, governments, businesses, and schools. Every facet of our society struggled with how to continue to operate in this unexpected and unknown environment. Some succeeded, significantly modifying their operations to meet the demands of life with the virus and the needs of their constituents. Some could not operate, and they closed their doors. Higher education was no exception to the struggle. In the United States (U.S.), higher education colleges and universities pivoted to virtual learning environments in a matter of days if not weeks. Most everyone … faculty, students, and the public anticipated this was a temporary condition. In truth, this was just the beginning of a new way of operating and educating. While there were creative responses to the dilemma, substantive issues and challenges persisted, primarily because COVID-19 continued to rage across the country and the world. Clearly, in the beginning of the 2021 academic year, the Academy seemed overwhelmed with a juggernaut of health, political, academic, and operational issues that overshadowed much of the progress that seemed to have been made in the previous year. As Floyd (2021) noted, 2020 was a year none of us predicted. And, although many thought the challenges of 2020 were temporary, the same unpredictability could be said as 2021 progressed month to month.

COVID-19 vaccinations brought hope to 2021 and, in the U.S., by early summer of 2021, many thought the pandemic’s end was in sight. Many U.S. colleges and universities were planning to reopen, albeit changed. However, the emergence of the COVID Delta variant sparked an unwelcomed surge that reminded us that this pandemic is far from over. Community colleges, entrusted with the responsibility to provide accessible, relevant, and unique educational programs to populations they serve, continue to be challenged 18 months into this global pandemic thinking the worst is over, only to have wave after wave forcing them to react.

Accepting a Challenge to Document Community Colleges’ Responses to the Pandemic

In early 2021, Floyd issued a challenge to community college leaders, practitioners, scholars, and researchers to document what happened, how community colleges reacted, what worked, what did not work, and what was learned. Later in 2021, a formal call for papers was issued. Over 50 higher education professionals accepted the challenge and collaborated to submit 30 proposals from 22 U.S. states and three nations. After peer and editorial reviews, 14 manuscripts were selected for this issue about community colleges and their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result is a collection of practitioner, research, and scholarly articles focusing on the following thematic areas: leadership, curriculum, funding, social and racial tension, technology and digital access, self, family, and community, and health and safety. Apart from these specific thematic areas, the writers were invited to provide perspectives on the lessons learned, what did or did not work, and what recommendations could be carried forth in a post-COVID-19 era.

The accepted articles provided provocative insights on just how COVID-19 impacted faculty, students, and the institution as a whole. What happened to financial aid? How did faculty handle the work overload shaped by shifts in instructional modes, in delivery, and in student support? How did the institution provide the necessary technological and logistical support for curriculum delivery? How did faculty handle disciplinary differences in remote instruction? How is communication affected both internally and externally? Were there marked differences in urban, suburban, and rural environments? How did a college respond to safety protocols? What were the particular lessons learned at the historically Black community colleges (HBCC’s)? How did colleges respond to the needed support for students who did not have access to specific technological needs? How did the institution handle student dissatisfaction with institutional responses? How did college support services respond to student needs? How did the institution respond to the demands of the state? How were meetings handled? How did the college work with partners … secondary schools, hospitals, government? How did the outside world affect the internal learning environment? What were the positive takeaways from the experience itself? Would students think differently about their learning experience and their future choices regarding higher education? These are a few of the insightful questions the authors pose in this issue.

While the lessons learned are valuable, indeed, it is abundantly clear that we are not at the end of this monumental transition as a country or as a college. What became increasingly clear is that the particularities of the pandemic forced educators to examine all aspects of college and university life. It was not just the teaching/learning community that was affected. It was student life and financial aid; it was athletics and career centers. It was everything. The fragile underbelly of the system was exposed, and educators, students, and informed supporters knew that higher education was very likely at the beginning of a massive transformation. Thus, the examples provided and the lessons learned in this issue are important, but they are simply a beginning. Only one thing is abundantly clear: we are not returning to the old normal, not now and, perhaps, never.

Articles Selected for the 2022 Volume Year COVID-19 Special Issue

Leadership

Mark D’Amico, Adam Atwell, Janet Spriggs, and Jeff Cox explore both common and unique challenges of a rural and an urban college. The article describes how each community college took action to maintain continuity, address enrollment declines and engage the disengaged, and lead for the future through academic, workforce, and equity initiatives. Angela Falconetti and E. Allen Bottorff II detail Polk State College’s actions as their college, and community responded to the crisis – noting how existing plans and clear communication were paramount to leading a college as it initially responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Terrell Strayhorn elicits the perspectives of 10 mid-and senior-level administrators at eight of the 13 federally-designated historically Black community colleges (HBCCs) in the nation, as their institutions responded to the challenges of change presented by COVID-19. The article recognizes, among other things, that the vestiges of racism continue to be exposed when communities are vulnerable.

Curriculum

Rosalind Raby and Yi Zhang review the immediate and longer-term impact of COVID-19 on U.S. community college internationalization efforts by focusing on international students’ mobility and their economic contribution, federal policies and laws, on-campus services, students’ academic and social experiences, and racialized tensions. Kristine Washburn and Debra D. Bragg report on curricular and co-curricular changes to better meet Everett Community College (EvCC) students’ needs during COVID-19. The article’s results reveal EvCC faculty and staff’s efforts to keep students on track to complete the STEM pathway. Emily Suh, Brett Griffiths, Lizbett Tinoco, Joanne Baird Giordano, Holly Hassel, and Patrick Sullivan report on the initial survey findings concerning English faculty members’ working conditions and practices at two-year colleges. Anjali Thanawala, Charles Murphy, and Toufic Hakim examine how a Hispanic-Serving Institution-STEM grant project at one college responded, confronting the challenges of transitioning to an all-online environment and tapping into unexpected benefits. Matthew Ison, Elizabeth Cicchetti, Melissa Tolle, and Teresa Hernandez discuss the challenges of community college dual enrollment programs during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of the senior leadership team of the College Credit Plus (CCP) program at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.

Funding

On March 27, 2020, it is important to note that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law, providing roughly $12.5 billion to higher education institutions (Miller, 2020a). The formula utilized full time equivalent (FTE) student counts rather than headcount, an analytical miscue that negatively impacted community colleges. It undercounted the number of students at community colleges (Miller, 2020b).

Saralyn McKinnon-Crowley provides a snapshot of the ways the COVID-19 pandemic altered financial aid at a large community college in Texas. In addition, the paper presents qualitative findings on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted financial aid practitioners and the students they serve.

Technology and Digital Access

David Addae, Samuel Amponsah, and Belinda Gborti describe the experiences of students in Ghana who encountered unstable internet access, making learning difficult, and challenged faculty to extend empathy in greater doses to support student success. Kim Swan and Donna Kessler-Eng highlight how the Bronx Community College (BCC) community addressed the digital divide during the pandemic and explores the long-term implications of online learning for the community post-COVID-19 pandemic. Heidi Fischer and Kimberley Cossey explore how community colleges navigated the transition to virtual international education (VIE) using a mixed-method design. Finally, Laura McCarthy and Dave Ferreira describe how a small rural community college in Connecticut developed new online programs and policies that supported faculty and students so they could continue teaching and learning.

Self, Family, and Community

Lisa Zottarelli, Ashley Moreno, Adrianna Miranda, Xiaohe Xu, and Thankam Sunil explore changes in community college student basic needs services and programs. The results indicate an overall decrease in the number of basic needs initiative programs and services at the community colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Closing Commentary

As Margaret Wheatley (2006) explains in her book about leadership and chaos, that which disturbs systems also plays a crucial role in helping systems self-organize into new forms. During this era of disorder and uncertainty, she reminds us that new understandings of change and disorder have emerged from chaos theory. Disorder can be a source of new order and growth often emerges from disequilibrium, not balance. She poignantly writes that “It is chaos’ great destructive energy that dissolves the past and gives us the gift of a new future … Only chaos creates the abyss in which we can recreate ourselves” (p. 119). She adds that disruptions, confusion, and chaos are often necessary conditions to awaken creativity.

Community college leaders, educators, policy makers and researchers are ideally positioned to recreate themselves and use this disorder as a catalyst to bring creative new order to their work. Community college organizations and systems are ready to model the way with new ways of looking at information and challenges and embrace creative opportunities to lead higher education into a new organic era. This evolutionary process should continue for many years if we embrace these disturbances as opportunities to self-organize into new forms and systems. Indeed, this era presents a marvelous opportunity for us to take from the past, learn from the recent experiences, and create a future that we can design with learning for a new world at the very core. The very survival of organizations such as community colleges, may depend on their ability to navigate the unknown with an open mind and a willingness to endure the chaos, knowing that these colleges will be ever evolving.

We believe we have just begun the process of dialogue and documenting the transformational work of community colleges during this pandemic. To the authors who presented their scholarship in this issue, we commend you for stepping forward and embracing this challenge to document these ever-evolving changes in community colleges. Undoubtedly, the future will continue to present challenges and opportunities for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to embrace this era with innovative zeal. Indeed, the future remains uncertain. Is this our new normal? Perhaps. We are confident that community colleges are and will continue to evolve and emerge stronger, albeit different, from pre-pandemic days. Community colleges can emerge with bold solutions that will enable us to design and transform community colleges and our future. We challenge all who care about community colleges to continue documentation of this evolution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Christopher M. Mullin

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9187-7841

References

• Floyd, D. L. (2021). 2020, the year none of us predicted: COVID-19 and community colleges. Communi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 Community Colleges Evolve during the COVID 19 Pandemic: What Worked, What Did Not Work, and Lessons Learned
• Leadership
• Curriculum
• Funding
• Technology and Digital Access
• Self, Family, and Community
• Index