Community college gears up for classes

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College has covid-19 precautions in place as it prepares to start the school year.

The school will offer a mix of in-person and online classes, Teresa Taylor, executive director of risk, policy and compliance, said Monday during a presentation to the school’s board of trustees. Classes that cannot reasonably be conducted online — such as culinary, health professions or construction — will be offered only in person.

In-person classes will have up to nine students and one instructor who must stay 6 feet apart and wear masks, Taylor said.

Some online classes will be taught live and require students to log in at a scheduled time. Others will be self-paced and allow students to log on and complete coursework any time, she said.

Trustee Joe Spivey expressed concern that students who don’t learn well via virtual learning may fall behind, and he asked if the college had considered offering “catch-up classes.”

“I am worried from what I’ve heard from the community about students who just may struggle with virtual learning or independent study. It’s hard to sit at home with so many distractions especially today,” he said.

Taylor and Ricky Tompkins, vice president of learning, said that is partly why the college will continue to offer some in-person classes and scheduled online classes. Instructors will teach scheduled online classes live, and students will be able to ask questions as if they were in an in-person class, Tompkins said.

The college will also continue to allow only students and staff members on campus and keep some services, such as the game room and food court, closed, Taylor said. The school will not offer covid-19 testing on-site and will help with contact tracing for students and staff members who test positive for the virus.