Crowder Adapts To Crisis

NURSING STUDENTS READY TO HELP DURING PANDEMIC

The covid-19 crisis is sparking Crowder College officials to creatively serve their students.

Officials in Neosho announced last week that the main campus and other sites will remain closed until May 11.

Classes continue online. Enrollment is moving forward this week, Aaron Divine, McDonald County instructional site director, said.

All current Crowder students began enrolling on April 6. New students can begin enrolling on April 13, he said.

“Our Student Affairs division has come up with a great plan that will allow us to get the students enrolled in the classes by using phone conversations and email,” Divine said. “We still get the information that we need to process the students in an efficient way. Hats off to Helen Hale, the director of the Student Access Center, for putting that plan together.”

Officials working remotely are still able to assist students, thanks to technological efforts.

“Overall, the one silver lining to this whole situation is that it’s pushing us to find new and creative ways to reach our students,” Divine said. “Still, our primary concern is that everyone in our community stays safe and all the decisions being made are with that being the priority.”

Despite drastic changes that had to be made, enrollment is going well.

“Students just need to reach out to us via email or telephone and we’ll schedule advising appointments that will accommodate their schedule,” he said.

Additionally, students can save the $25 application fee through April.

“Crowder recognizes the barriers that students are facing right now and having a $25 fee that limited a student’s ability to enroll in classes doesn’t make sense in the current climate,” he said.

For current students, all classes for the spring semester have moved to an online format. Students may access the campus Wi-Fi from their cars in the parking lot, he said. For those who do not have adequate internet access, McDonald County Telephone Company has pledged to work with those students, he said.

Future enrollment reports will reflect increases or decreases. Until those reports are available, Divine is not certain of specific enrollment numbers. One fact remains solid: nursing field applicants are scrambling for a spot.

“Nursing is still growing by leaps and bounds,” Divine said. “The most recent application cycle, which concluded in February, showed a record number of applicants. We’ve requested additional seats from the State Board of Nursing to accommodate this growth.”

Nursing student Stevie Cotton, who serves as the campus Student Nurses Association vice president, said the covid-19 crisis has proven challenging for students and instructors.

But new changes have enabled students to stay motivated, learning and moving forward.

Live videos are held during regular class times, then recorded so students can access them at any time. This is especially helpful for students who are taking care of their children at home, Cotton said.

“So, making the class lectures available to us in the event that we have to miss ‘class’ is Crowder’s way of caring about us, the students,” Cotton said.

Cotton, part of the class of 2020, will soon take her new role as a nurse during the pandemic. The health crisis has not deterred her career decision. If anything, it’s helped solidify her path.

“This is why I want to be a nurse. I want to help people.”

Once Cotton finishes with her studies, Crowder officials will submit her grades and her final transcript. She then will be contacted about a testing date.

In the meantime, she has applied for a temporary license so she can begin working in June.

“Right now, I am feeling like I can’t finish fast enough to do my part and help.”

Helpful information

The McDonald County Telephone Company can be reached at 417-223-4313.

More information can be found on the college’s informational page at https://www.Crowder.edu/ COVID-19.

Crowder College contact information may be found https://www.Crowder.edu.