MONTAGE
The
Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient VOLUME 57, ISSUE 1
SEPT. 2, 2021
WWW.MERAMECMONTAGE.COM
THE RETURN: Is It Safe to Be on Campus?
Many Meramec students return to campus as the Delta variant looms Jacob Politte MANAGING EDITOR
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n Monday, Aug 23, more students returned to campus at St. Louis Community College (STLCC) than prior to March 13, 2020. While the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the region and the pandemic is still a concern, STLCC and the Meramec campus continue to have safeguards and procedures in place to ensure a safe return to in-person learning for students. Why return now? “St. Louis Community College decided to move forward with more on-campus classes at the request of students,” said Nez Savala, communications manager for St. Louis Community College. “The College offers different formats for learning, and in-person classes are what many students prefer and want. STLCC is in alignment with many other colleges in the area such as University of MissouriSt. Louis, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, Webster University and St. Charles Community College who are welcoming students to in-person classes for 2021-2022.” STLCC has made a few revisions to it’s COVID policies in the last few months; for example, mask usage was no longer required at STLCC starting on June 15, but that mask policy was reinstated the following month, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status. “As we have since spring 2020,” Savala said, “the College will make adjustments for the health and safety of our campus communities based on guidance from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and local public health departments. That could mean moving some courses to a virtual learning format, but again, those decisions are made under careful guidance.” Savala continued, “Throughout the pandemic, the College has made revisions to policies and operating procedures based on CDC and public health guidelines. For example, we know that wearing a mask is effective in minimizing the spread of COVID-19, so masks are required indoors at all STLCC locations. We also know that surface transfer of COVID-19 is not as high a risk factor as it was thought to be, so we’ve made adjustments. Again, the College will continue to make adjustments or changes based on guidance from public health departments and the CDC.” Administration Reactions
Felicca Moore-Davis is in her third year as president of the Meramec Campus and said she is excited to have students back once more. “I am very excited to have students on campus,” she said. “The campus is vibrant again, and I’m loving it. Students are the reason we are here, and their presence reminds me of the mission of our campus community.” STLCC’s Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Andrew Langrehr, in his sixth year in the role, also concurs. He said he’s “extremely excited” to have students back on campuses. “I have been on a couple campuses or centers this [past] week,” he said, “and seeing more activity has been a welcome sight. I helped a few students find their classrooms, and the excitement was obvious in the conversation.” Moore-Davis said that for the last 17 months, the campus has been quiet. “Staff were working primarily fixed hours and remotely,” she said. “Nonetheless, we were still working to support our students and give everyone a great learning experience. It felt like a long winter on campus; but we were able to see and engage with each other frequently online and remained connected.” Moore-Davis says that the pandemic has led to some changes and some The Meramec Lecture Hall is currently under renovation and physical obstacles at will remain closed until early October, according to Campus STLCC. For example, President Felicca Moore-Davis. a construction project
Photos by Jacob Politte. Students gather in the Library Quad Tuesday, Aug. 31. The Meramec campus is hosting more face-to-face classes this semester with masks mandated indoors.
inside the Lecture Hall building that was approved in early 2021 by our Board of Trustees was delayed due to global supply chain issues; MooreDavis says that the project should be completed in early October, but it was originally planned to be complete before the start of the fall semester. “We are very excited about the renovations happening in the Lecture Halls,” she said. “It was long overdue. We want to improve the student experience in all of our classrooms [and] the Lecture Halls will have updated furnishings and 21st century technology.” Moore-Davis also spoke about a major change to the campus: the disbanding of the Meramec Campus cafeteria. “Our contract expired with the vendor,” she said. “This gave the college an opportunity to assess and rethink the area and our service to students. Our assessment revealed students didn’t spend a lot of time in the area and many of the food items were not affordable.” The Meramec Bookstore has since moved into the space; the atrium of the area still exists as it did before. Fountain sodas are still available for purchase, and a new Kaldi’s coffee kiosk is also set to be installed in the space this week. “We decided to bring in more affordable and a greater selection of items for our students and employees,” Moore-Davis said. When asked what would happen to the old bookstore space, Moore-Davis said that had not yet been determined. “We will be reviewing the bookstore space and making plans to better serve our students,” she said. “We will look for renovations that will make sense for how our students
want and need to use that space.” A more detailed look at the new Meramec Bookstore can be found on page 5 of this issue. Faculty Reactions Faculty reaction to STLCC’s observance of social distancing and COVID protocols has been mixed. Ruth Eilerman has been teaching at STLCC since 2007. She is excited to be physically in front of students again. “[I’m] 100% excited and 0% nervous.” She clarified, “I’m not nervous health-wise. I’m nervous that the bottom might fall out, I’m nervous that things might happen. I’m nervous because I always get nervous the first day before the first day of class, because it’s a brand new situation. So I’m only as nervous as I ever was. Health-wise, I’m not nervous. I’m vaccinated, I feel really good about that and I just really missed being here, so I’m just so excited to be back.” When asked about the difference between teaching courses in a Live Virtual Lecture (LVL) format and teaching in a classroom again after 17 months, Eilerman said the biggest difference concerns the aspect of student participation. “People are much more likely to participate in an on-campus class,” she said. “A lot of it is non-verbal cues [...] I don’t see that if I just see your initials up on a screen. So being able to see if [students are] looking at me confused, or if you’re looking at me looking like you’re nodding, I can tell whether or not I’m covering the material effectively.” Eilerman continues, “People were
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