4 News
10.29.2020
The Communicator
SFCC Pullman builds policy changes SFCC Pullman campus invents changes regarding safetsy protocols for students. Leila Williamson
The Communicator The first COVID-19 case to hit Washington was on January 20, 2020. It’s been a little over nine months now since the United states has been impacted by Covid-19 and the world is trying to come back to normal, a very new and different normal. Colleges around the country have been trying to find the right solution for their schools as a new academic year starts. At Spokane Falls Community College serious measures are being taken to ensure the safety and health of students and staff. At the Spokane campus, in-person classes are following safety protocols such as wearing masks while on campus and being six feet apart when in class. Listed under COVID FAQ on the school website, there is an outline of other cautions they are taking to keep students safe. However, things are a little different over at the Pullman campus. At the SFCC Pullman campus, located within of Washington State University’s campus, students have been completely moved to online, meaning no in-person meetings. Brooklyn Brown who is a part of faculty from the SFCC Pullman campus said this decision has affected their campus numbers. “...COVID-19 is affecting enrollment. Many students are not interested in a fully online schedule,” said Brown. While there were lower numbers of enrollment, SFCC Pullman still faced some different
Leila Williamson | The Communicator Washington State University, which Spokane Falls community college shares a section of campus with.
challenges this fall surrounding COVID. Due to the size of the student population, when classes first started on the joint WSU/SFCC campus, there was a surge in the number of cases, even when there were no in-person classes taking place. The National Guard was called in to set up their own testing sites to meet the demand of people needing to be tested. The SFCC Pullman Assistant Dean, Patrick Forster, works with the SFCC and WSU administration to decide what is best for the campus. He explains that the Pullman campus closely works with WSU and follows their public health and safety guidelines in almost ev-
“Our priorities are the well-being of our students, employees, and communities” Patrick Forster
sfcc.leila.willamson@gmail.com
ery instance. As to what they are doing to keep students safe here, alongside in-person classes being cancelled, he mentions there is information on how to stay healthy during this time throughout every space they operate in at WSU. While classes for the Pullman campus were completely online this semester, he hints at what the future may hold. “Should the public health context improve substantially by February, we will discuss internally and with WSU a partial or even full resumption of on ground services and instruction,” Forster said. “Our priorities are the well-being of our students, employees, and communities... we live with an extraordinary challenge; each of us has had to sacrifice even as we meet the challenge with resilience and creativity.” The decisions being made for each campus are entirely different, depending on their surrounding environment.
However it is clear these decisions are important and that each campus is doing everything it can to take all the precautions necessary during this time. Forster voices that these decisions, while not always easy, will help keep our school safe with the current rise in cases.
For more information about Washington State University, call 509-332-2706 or email Pullman@ sfcc.spokane.edu located at: 185 Veterans Way Pullman, WA 99164
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