Difficulties Mastered

THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK SHATTERED OUR SENSE OF NORMAL. BUT IN WORKING THROUGH THE CRISIS, WE BUILT STRENGTHS THAT WILL CARRY THE COMMUNITY FORWARD.

Cuyahoga Community College prides itself on being forwardthinking and prepared. As an institution integral to thousands of lives and livelihoods within our community, we spend countless hours scenario planning and asking, “What if?”

Yet nothing could have prepared us for the events that unfolded in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States.

Within the span of a few weeks, Tri-C went from business as usual to a complete shutdown of all in-person classes. Instruction moved online and students, faculty and staff worked from home to help halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Since that time, the community has begun to re-emerge. But it’s still difficult to know when life in general — let alone the business of running our college — will fully return to normal.

But I believe it will.

I believe we will build a better “new normal” and emerge from this crisis stronger, smarter and more compassionate than ever before. The challenge to get there, though, brings to mind a quote from Winston Churchill: “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” That simple yet powerful phrase captures our shared coronavirus experience. The past few months have been difficult and even overwhelming at times, but the results show what we all know to be true — that overcoming challenges is what we do best.

At Tri-C, the response to the coronavirus forced us to quickly make changes and establish processes to serve our students in different ways as they continued working toward degrees and certificates.

These innovations — and the speed with which we implemented them — set new standards of service and excellence in our academic and workforce programs.

Difficulties were mastered. Opportunities were won.

AND OPPORTUNITIES WON

ESSAY BY Alex Johnson

Strengths built over the past months will carry us forward as we emerge from the outbreak. For instance, the expansion of the College’s technological infrastructure to meet broader online course demands positions Tri-C to redefine virtual learning in the future.

We bolstered workforce training, too, with short-term online programs focused on in-demand fields such as information technology, health care and manufacturing. This allowed Northeast Ohio residents to build skills while sheltering at home during the pandemic. As businesses reopened, workers returned with new talents and ideas to spark economic growth. But our greatest success during these trying times involved the simple act of connecting with people. Many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, rely on the structure of campus life for a sense of normalcy and belonging and to stay focused on academic goals. Without face-to-face interaction, the bonds connecting students to Tri-C — and their graduation ambitions — may weaken or wither altogether. Once that happens, it can be difficult to re-engage those students. “I BELIEVE WE WILL BUILD A BETTER ‘NEW NORMAL’ AND EMERGE FROM THIS CRISIS STRONGER, SMARTER AND MORE COMPASSIONATE THAN EVER BEFORE.”

—Alex Johnson, president, Cuyahoga Community College

So we found ways to keep our students close even from afar. We placed tens of thousands of personal phone calls to keep students engaged and focused. We provided technology to bridge digital divides. We connected the most vulnerable

to assistance. Every student who emerged from this time as an active, enrolled student — or, better yet, a graduate like the ones profiled in the previous pages — represented a victory for us all.

There is no surefire battle plan for running a college while combating the vast impact of a global pandemic. Yet despite the scale of the crisis that enveloped us, we continued to sustain educational journeys and positively affect futures.

Difficulties were mastered, and opportunities were won. We are stronger because of that.