Fall semester starts at SouthArk
The fall semester started at South Arkansas Community College Monday and both students and classes are looking a little different this year.
Earlier this month, SouthArk released its protocols for restarting classes after schools were closed last spring due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Requirements include all students, employees and campus visitors wear face masks over their mouths and noses at all times when around others; social distancing of at least six feet on all campuses, including in classrooms and common areas; and self-screening for COVID-19 symptoms.
The college has also placed limits on the number of people who may be in offices and waiting areas at any given time and instituted one-way traffic flows through doorways and some procedures specific to certain classes, spaces and college services.
SouthArk President Dr. Bentley Wallace said around noon Monday that all was going well on the students’ first day back.
“It’s going well so far, knock on wood. Students are back on campus and we’re excited,” he said. “I was out on campus a couple, three times this morning and everybody’s doing a great job. They’re distancing, wearing their masks, using hand sanitizer when they enter a building.”
SouthArk is offering classes in several formats this semester, including traditional on-campus classes; mixed on-campus and virtual classes, where some students attend in-person and others attend via Zoom, a teleconferencing app; and fully online classes.
“We have a lot of students who have chosen online learning,” Wallace said. “There’s fewer students on campus.”
Some programs, like the college’s welding, automotive and
culinary majors based at the East Campus, require more hands-on learning, Wallace noted.
“Some of those programs on the East Campus are a little more difficult … (they) don’t lend themselves to distance learning as well,” he said.
Other policies, such as the requirement that all classrooms and common areas be deep cleaned and sanitized daily and that classrooms be disinfected between classes, as well as the social distancing and masking rules, help to address those spaces where students must congregate.
If cases do crop up at the school, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will conduct contact tracing. The point of contact at SouthArk is for contact tracing is Finance and Administration Vice President Carey Tucker.
Wallace said he’s happy to see students back on campus learning.
“Faculty and students are doing a great job,” Wallace said.
Late registration continues this week, with no appointment necessary.
Today through August 20, registration is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on August 21, from 9 to 11:30 a.m., according to SouthArk’s website.