Most classes at Lane Community College are still taking place remotely in response to the pandemic. The college anticipated at least half of their classes would be in-person by now, but that’s not the case.
LCC provost Paul Jarrell said only around 20 percent of instruction is in-person this term. The college had to scale back plans because of a surge in COVID-19 cases. He says balancing the needs of students with public health, and a decline in enrollment has been challenging. The college has seen a 30 percent drop in enrollment in comparison to Fall 2019.
“Obviously that’s a significant loss in revenue, not to mention the fact that, that’s a serious lost opportunity I think for a lot students that are waiting to come back, and I hope that they do come back when they feel that the learning conditions are there to meet their needs,” Jarrell said.
As COVID-19 cases decrease he said some classes may switch to in-person instruction, but it's unlikely the college will reach their goal of 50 percent this term.
"Many of the courses, rather than having to re-evaluate in the middle of the term and put an imposition on students and employees, [the courses that could] decided to move the entire term remotely," he said.
The college is hoping more students will return for Winter term, Jarrell said, when the college will try again to reach 50 percent in-person instruction.
Note: Lane Community College holds the station license for KLCC.
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