TCC Prioritizes Health and Safety in Return to Campus for Fall Semester

Tulsa Community College offers more access to resources to help returning and prospective students leading up to the start of the fall semester. At the same time, the college is prioritizing the health and safety of employees and students as it continues to monitor and follow guidance from federal, state and local health officials.
TCC expanded student enrollment resources at the Southeast Campus Student Success and Career Center and the Northeast Campus Student Union on July 20 as part of its Return-to-Campus plan. Set to begin the first week in August, the college will expand resources to include Metro Campus, West Campus and the Owasso Community Campus leading to the fall semester including in-person classes beginning August 17.
“We understand a college education is important. We want people to reach their dreams or goals so having resources available to students means everything to this college and to us as professionals,” said Greg Hope, Northeast Campus director of academic advising.
Students are highly encouraged to continue using virtual services, which can be found at www.tulsacc.edu. However, if a student needs assistance with accessing services, help is available for Financial Aid, Enrollment, Advising, and Bursar. When individuals come to campus, we prefer them to come alone and every person on campus is required to wear a face mask, Hope said.
TCC plans to offer four options this fall including in-person, online, online live, and blended formats. For online live, students meet online in a web-conference style at a designated time, and blended, combines in-person and online.
Faculty, like Amanda Bailey and Aaron Inlow, have invested countless hours designing their courses for the best academic experience for students. Altogether, more than 350 of full-time faculty and adjunct instructors have participated in a weeklong specialized training workshop for online teaching.
Baily, as assistant professor of biology, said, “During the workshop, we had the chance to reevaluate what works for our students as part of the process and design for the online format. As a result, I deliver more meaningful content. It is more about students evaluating and being engaged in the process of learning, and less about sitting and listening.”
Inlow redesigned the course he teaches, Human Anatomy, for an online live format. “I want students to know TCC faculty and staff are here to guide them through the learning process. We are working hard to prepare for the different fall formats so our students have a good quality education even though they may not be coming to a traditional classroom,” he said.
While some might be fearful of online courses. Bailey cautions, this isn’t about taking the same course and lecture and putting it online; rather, it is intentionally creating the content for the online “world.”
“Every single faculty member is putting the full weight of creativity and experience across the college to make it a good experience and finding something that works,” said Bailey.
She added, faculty are here for students and ready to help them even when the course it taught outside the traditional classroom.