Nina Branwell
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there were many questions regarding the school system and whether students should return to in-person classes. CCBC answered this question over the summer with an announcement that students will be returning to campus in phases.
The Community College of Baltimore County had planned for most classes in Fall 2020 to be in-person but ended up changing most of them to a virtual format held through Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Charles McGee, a student at CCBC stated, “The transition has been hard with trying to adapt to new systems of learning… I’ve had a few technical problems, but the main problem is my learning style conflicting with the virtual classrooms.”
CCBC is following Governor Hogan’s ‘Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery’ plan for guidelines on how to reopen to students. According to Maryland.gov, “On August 27, Governor Hogan announced that every county school system in Maryland is now fully authorized to begin safely reopening”. At the time of this article the major school systems in Maryland have yet to announce a formal plan for students to return to their buildings for classes. Many counties have announced that students will be retuning, but plans have been changed daily.
As of the start of CCBC’s semester students are allowed on campus in a limited capacity. Resources for classes have been granted to students technologically and academically through The Library and The Student Success Center.
(Video/Podcast by MCOM Student, Matthew Paul)
Although there is a screening test students must take in order to be allowed on campus, the buildings are open to monitored public use. Staff have adapted cleaning practices to keep spaces clean and safe, while also using social distancing practices. Buildings are marked with arrows to monitor the flow of traffic and new signs to let you know which door is an exit or entrance. Additionally masks are required in all buildings.
The Library and The Student Success Center are also open for students who do not have access to computers at home or need help with tutoring.
The Student Success Center has partnered with The Testing Center and The Writing Center to help students with the transition to online learning. There has been free tutoring offered virtually through Microsoft Teams for students covering multiple classes in science, math and english.
Tutoring may be held virtually, but in addition to The Library allowing students to use the computers, The Student Success Center has also opened up their computer lab to work on assignments and if need be, in-person scheduling for tutoring.
While some classes are being held in-person, it is still uncertain whether students will be returning to campus in a normal capacity. As of today, there has been no formal announcement as to whether students will be returning for in-person classes for the winter or spring sessions. It was recently announced that registration for both terms will begin October 19.
For more information on tutoring please call 443-840-3667 or email dundalkssc@ccbcmd.edu. For more information on assistance with online learning you may also email The Office of Student Life that can put you in contact with a Student Ambassador. Email your name, major, preferred contact, phone number and a general question to: studentlifeleadership@ccbcmd.edu.
The fact that CCBC is open on campus to some classes and technology resources and virtually for everything else is amazing. They put the students and faculty’s health its top priority. It sucks not knowing how long the virtual classes are going to go on for, or even if it’s going to affect the spring semester. I know it’s going to be a while before things can go back to normal, but I have faith that it can go back to campus learning with time and patience.
The smoothness of the transition to online learning is pretty neat, in my own opinion. As someone who takes online classes sometimes even without the Coronavirus outbreak, I know that the proper resources and tools were already pretty much in place, but it still astounds me that CCBC was able to just move everyone online with little to no issue on the fly. It really is a testament to how hard the CCBC staff works.
The move to online was smooth on the schools part and made things easy for students to transition with remote learning providing a schedule that makes online learning easy since the main struggle with online classes are finding a schedule to do everything.