NWACC begins school year mostly online, reports no covid-19 cases

BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College began the fall semester this week with covid-19 restrictions in place.

Roughly 90% of classes are being held online, said Todd Kitchen, vice president of student services. The only classes being taught in person are ones that cannot reasonably be taught online such as culinary, construction and health courses.

Classrooms may have up to 10 people, including students and faculty, who must socially distance and wear masks, Kitchen said.

He was unaware of any covid-19 cases among students, faculty or staff members as of Thursday. The college will post the number of cases on its website, he said.

The campus is open only to students, faculty and staff. Some services, including campus dining, are closed until further notice, Kitchen said. The library is open and counseling services are available.

Zackary Hall, 21, is a senior studying general business management and administration. Hall is taking all online classes this semester.

The classes are going smoothly, he said. His teachers have communicated well through email.

"With covid, they were really responsive and adamant about answering questions," he said.

The college is offering some self-paced online classes and some scheduled online classes.

The scheduled online classes are taught in real time, which requires students to attend as if they were going to class in person. Teachers and students can communicate directly during class.

Hall has found the scheduled online classes to be helpful because they make it easier to create a routine and allow him to see and talk to his professors, he said.

Dealing with the financial aid office has been the biggest challenge because it is closed and providing services by phone, he said. There's a high call volume, and he's had to wait for several students ahead of him when he's called, Hall said.

Also, some online classes taught through the video-conferencing program Zoom have had some technical difficulties, he said. Zoom has stopped the class, and it takes five to 10 minutes for the class to resume, he said.

The college's health professions division has several programs that require students to participate in person. Nursing students, for example, have clinical rotations at local hospitals. Many of the emergency medical technician students already work in the field and treat patients on ambulances, said Mark Wallenmeyer, dean of health professions.

Students attending clinicals or in-person labs are required to have their temperatures taken and answer screening questions before entering classrooms in addition to wearing masks and socially distancing, Wallenmeyer said. The division has about 750 students.

Students in health professions programs who test positive for covid-19 will be allowed to make up in-person labs or clinicals after they finish a 10-day quarantine, he said. Students who test positive, but are asymptomatic will be required to continue any online instruction they have while in quarantine.

Professors are to work with students to allow them to make up instruction if they become ill with the virus, Wallenmeyer said.