Gabriella Small
Layout Editor
With Spring Term starting, many worries have spawned in the minds of students and their families. One common concern I’ve heard among students is “how will returning to campus affect my family and me?”
Others have doubts about continuing their education at all due to the need of completing in-person lab classes to progress in their degree. Although there are many concerns that have been raised, one concern that hasn’t been realized is: How do our professors feel about returning to campus? I have gotten into contact with three professors at BC, Professor Stephen Muniz (Speech Professor), Professor Karen Hoban (Medical Professor) and Professor Susan Martin (Dental Professor), to gain some insight.
To start off, I asked them how the pandemic affected them as professors. Hoban and Muniz reported that being thrusted into a Remote Learning environment has benefitted their creative thoughts for teaching. Hoban said that “[Teaching] has been a lot more work, but the payoff is the success of the students,” showing that although the situation has inconvenienced many professors, countless helpful ideas came from the sudden need to improvise.
When asked the main question, “Do you have any worries about returning on campus?”, Hoban and Muniz answered with a resounding “no.” Hoban even stated that, “I would have all my classes return in person if we had enough space to distance ourselves socially.” They have full confidence in the safety measures at BC.
This wasn’t an idea shared among all three, though. While Martin does feel less worried with all the precautions put in place, she stated, “Deep down, I still worry about bringing home COVID-19 to my family.”
I then asked them what measures they would take to ensure the safety of their students and themselves. Muniz responded with, “I will be sure to make every effort to follow CDC, State, County and College guidelines.”
Furthermore, Martin, who taught classes on campus during the fall term, said that she and her students completed COVID-19 questionnaires and took temperatures daily. There are countless amounts of measures being put into place to ensure everyone’s safety.
Finally, I asked professors if they thought things will ever return “back to the way they used to be.” Hoban responded with a thought provoking, “Things will never ‘go back to the way they used to be’; however, there will be a ‘new normal.’”
Martin added, “The impact of COVID-19 has created innovative ways to deliver courses — Information we thought had to be delivered F2F (face-to-face) can be simulated online.” Of course, we’ll never go back to our old routines, but we’ll still be able to walk along our paths to success.
Although the pandemic situation is quite depressing, it has possibly changed the learning landscape forever. We now have more control over where we want to learn and when we want to do it. You can also feel safe knowing that your choice to learn will not be detrimental to your health. The professors here at BC are working their hardest to make sure that every student will remain healthy and safe. Hopefully, we can all succeed and reach new heights of excellence during our “new normal.”
Broward College Central Campus | Photo Courtesy of Mobilize.us