YVC Responds to COVID-19

YVC Responds to the Global Pandemic

In the middle of March, Yakima Valley College faculty and students were busy preparing for winter finals when Governor Jay Inslee announced statewide closures of all public and private schools in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. YVC along with other schools around the state worked quickly to close their campuses to the public. After finals, the college spent the week of spring break reformatting classes from face-to-face to online for spring quarter. Work was also done to outfit staff with the equipment they would need to begin working remotely. In May a small portion of the students enrolled in workforce education programs were approved to return to campus. Each program is following strict public health procedures, including daily survey, social distancing, and masking. A student survey halfway through the quarter revealed that 88% of students said the remote learning experience was positive and that they felt connected to faculty. With the positive feedback on remote learning and the status of the community in mind, YVC decided to continue online instruction for summer and fall quarters. Faculty and staff have worked hard to make this transition successful for students and to support our community. Some of the efforts are highlighted below.

Campus Safety

“YVC knows we all have a role in preparing our community to thrive again,” stated Director of Occupational Health and Safety Shawn Teng. “From the beginning of this global crisis YVC students, faculty and staff have been working and adapting together on a common mission of maintaining the highest level of education possible, educating the community on the changing details of COVID-19, preserving and routing emergency resources to front-line responders, and working to slow the spread of the virus in our community in order to gain time for scientists and researchers to find solutions to protect humanity,” he continued. YVC has purposely instituted measures that exceed many Federal and State recommendations and will continue to practice and implement, as necessary, strict safety guidelines as a systematic approach to reopening our campus community.

Technology

A tremendous amount of effort was done by YVC's Technology Services department to get students and staff ready for online learning and working remotely. “Once a decision was finalized to move over to an online modality due to the increase in COVID in our area, we acted quickly in acquiring technology that would be necessary for our faculty, staff, and students to be successful online,” stated Director of Technology Services Dilbar Chhokar. “We gathered all available resources on campus and purchased additional laptops/tablets, hotspots, webcams, and microphones. While we worked closely with Media Services to distribute technology to our students safely and effectively, our eLearning team was preparing courses, tips, and providing any assistance necessary to prepare our faculty to be successful in an online environment," he continued.

Math & Writing Centers

Staff on both the Yakima and Grandview campuses worked to quickly move services for the math and writing centers online. Utilizing Zoom rooms, the writing and mater centers created virtual centers to connect students with consultants, getting them real-time help at their convenience. To do this, teams kept a continuous Zoom meeting open during their daily hours of operation, mirroring the welcoming open-door atmosphere of the physical centers. The teams also used the breakout rooms feature to create private tutoring spaces. "Our goal was to keep students’ use of the virtual center as close to what they would experience in the physical locations as possible, hoping that the familiarity would translate to accessibility and make adapting to online tutoring easier for students and consultants," stated Writing Center Instructional and Classroom Support Technician II Joshua Swayne. "Despite the newness of using Zoom for many, students were still able to find, access, and use our Zoom space as hoped, and our team of consultants quickly adapted to using the program’s features to have conversations with students about their writing, allowing us to maintain the human connection that is vital to the support we offer students," he continued.

Governor Jay Inslee Speaks with Reporters on YVC's Yakima Campus on June 16, 2020

Student Services

As YVC moved instruction and services online, YVC counselor and student services staff brainstormed how best to help engage students and answer their questions. The result was weekly live question and answer sessions held via Zoom. Staff from counseling and advising, financial aid, student life, registration and admissions were all available. The drop-in format allowed students to log in and ask questions and helped many navigate online education during spring quarter. “YVC Counselor Maribel Jimenez suggested the idea to me and I thought it was a great way for student life to support students during an unprecedented quarter,” stated Student Life Coordinator Laura Yolo. “It was very rewarding to be able to help students with a ‘one-stop shop’ type of experience multiple times per week during spring quarter. We hope to revisit these ‘Live sessions’ again during fall quarter."

District Virtual Concert

Check it out online at: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=NRPSv5Nh2C8&feature=emb_title

District Virtual Choir Concert

After planned concerts were canceled in late winter quarter, Choral Director Steven Slusher began to plan for online spring quarter, the result, a virtual concert where fellow K-12 school districts were invited to participate. Members of YVC Cadences served as YVC Choir Ambassadors to the high school students taking part in the virtual choir. “I provided all students with a sound track, individual vocals part and played on piano, sheet music I arranged and lyrics (We are the World: COVID-19) that Eisenhower choral director, Laurel Kaschmitter, and I wrote,” stated Steven Slusher. “Students listened to a recording through headphones and recorded their singing on their recording device. Ambassadors, along with Steven, listened to recordings and gave individual feedback to each student,” he continued. Slusher also held live Zoom meetings to discuss the music and concerns with submitted practice recordings. After all students submitted their fnal recordings they were compiled into a video. In total over 40 students submitted fnal videos including singers from eight area high schools, plus YVC choirs. Check out the finished product online at: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=NRPSv5Nh2C8&feature=emb_title

Larson Gallery

The Larson Gallery focused their efforts this spring on bringing their annual Larson Gallery Guild Members’ Exhibition to an online platform. Each year approximately 370 members of the Guild are invited to submit one piece of artwork for the show. For 2020 the gallery received 61 entries. They also arranged for a special dinner available for pick up or delivery through The Fat Pastor’s new restaurant The Lab, located in the former 901 Pasta building. The event also included a 45-minute online program with an auction of 17 artworks made by local artists. “We are grateful to the members of the Larson Gallery Guild, who help support our exhibitions and programs,” stated Larson Gallery Director David Lynx. “This is an opportunity to highlight some of our member artists."

Jay Inslee Campus Visit

On June 16, YVC hosted Governor Jay Inslee who was on campus to speak with local business leaders regarding the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the Yakima Valley. Private meetings were held in the North Campus Commons Courtyard. Later in the day, the Governor invited reporters to ask questions during a press conference. During the conference he spoke on the importance of masking fattening the curve in the Yakima Valley.