{"id":1433,"date":"2020-05-22T19:54:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2020-05-22T19:57:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:57:24","slug":"community-colleges-leading-the-way-out-of-this-national-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jcjc.edu\/jcnews\/news\/community-colleges-leading-the-way-out-of-this-national-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Colleges \u2013 Leading the way out of this national crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

OpEd By Dr. Andrea Mayfield, Tom Downs, Dawn Erlandson<\/p>\n

Community colleges in Mississippi and nationwide have responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, making contributions to enhance capabilities of emergency responders and health care professionals.\u00a0 Two-year public colleges have the unique capability to re-skill the workforce as Mississippi and the nation prepare to return to productivity after the pandemic subsides.<\/p>\n

Following the release of COVID-19 guidelines by state leaders, Mississippi community colleges took action to put safety first. The colleges transitioned face-to-face courses and workforce training classes to an online delivery format to ensure the learning and training process continued uninterrupted.\u00a0 To adhere to social distancing guidelines, the community colleges moved classes to an online platform, broke career and technical skills-based courses into multiple smaller groups of students to demonstrate skill-based competencies, closed dorms and cafeterias, and cancelled events to include fundraising activities.\u00a0 These changes resulted in significant additional costs incurred by the colleges.<\/p>\n

On a statewide level, the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB) has worked diligently to coordinate information about COVID-19 on behalf of the Mississippi\u2019s community colleges.\u00a0 The MCCB is zealously advocating for funding and assistance for these institutions to benefit their ongoing responses to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

On a national level, the two principal national associations for community colleges \u2013 the American Association of Community Colleges and the Association of Community College Trustees \u2013 have made COVID-19 a top priority.\u00a0 They worked to secure critical funding to meet basic needs of at-risk students and to ensure the nation\u2019s community colleges have resources to continue teaching and learning as much as possible remotely while confronting the many impacts of COVID-19 on faculty, staff and students.\u00a0 They are providing guidance to help colleges safely provide critical in-person, experiential instruction that cannot be done at home for future welders and nurses, among others.<\/p>\n

Community college graduates in Mississippi and across the country are today\u2019s essential workers \u2013 emergency medical technicians, truck drivers, law enforcement officers, respiratory therapists among many others. Community colleges have always welcomed students who are older, have families, attend part-time, and are in need of re-skilling.\u00a0 In this era of a global pandemic and high unemployment, they also offer traditional-aged college students the opportunity to earn college credits close to home at a very affordable price.<\/p>\n

Prior to COVID-19, the U.S. Congress authorized new community college workforce programs.\u00a0 The following are among the sectors where community colleges are essential:<\/p>\n