Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic intensified the existing enrollment crisis at our nation’s community colleges. After two and a half years of disruption, pressure has mounted on faculty and administration to boost enrollments and get students back to campus. On-ground and online preference formats continue to vary for students and faculty, which has created a challenging environment for course planning, faculty workloads, and campus activities. This case study examines the diverse organizational perspectives critical for campus leaders effectively managing community colleges in the post-COVID era.
Keywords/Phrases: Enrollment, Community Colleges, Scheduling, On-Ground, Online, Belonging, Equity, Pandemic
Primary Characters
Dr. Penelope Demoulas, Academic Dean (she, her, hers). The College President is getting mounting pressure from the state system office to improve lagging enrollments. Rumors on campus include that if enrollment does not improve soon, underperforming programs might be cut, and faculty layoffs will be inevitable. As a result, Dr. Demoulas reached out to all department chairs for the spring schedule with the requirement that more classes need to return to on-campus formats. Her mandate is intended to attract new and returning students to the institution.
Professor Barbara Griswold, Department Chair (she, her, hers). Professor Griswold is the chair of a small academic department that includes mostly small workforce/career (non-transfer) training programs. She is pulling together the spring schedule and asked for feedback from the rest of the department faculty at the monthly status meeting. During the pandemic, classes typically taught on campus were moved to online formats. Most of the faculty in her department are eager to continue satisfying their teaching load with online modalities, allowing students the most flexibility while juggling work and other responsibilities.
Professor Delphis Levasseur, Full-Time Faculty Member (he, him, his). Initially, online courses were difficult to teach during the pandemic, but after two and a half years of adapting, Professor Levasseur became comfortable with the online modality. He honed his pedagogy by taking a six-week mandatory training course on Best Practices for Online Pedagogy and earned an online teaching certificate. Not driving to and from campus gave him more time to focus on teaching. Additionally, seemingly endless campus committee meetings became streamlined as they were moved to virtual formats. As a result, he reclaimed more time for other work. When Department Chair Griswold asked for his course preferences for next semester’s schedule, he preferred teaching online.
Professor Sofia Chen, Full-Time Faculty Member (she, her, hers). Professor Chen despises online teaching. After over two and a half years of emailing back and forth with asynchronous students and teaching synchronous students via tiny boxes on her computer screen (that is when their cameras were on), she is eager to return to a fully on-ground teaching load as she believes that human encounters cannot be replicated in the online space. In addition, she has significant concerns about the academic rigor of online courses. She also observed many students struggling with course performance and college persistence in the context of online courses.
Phoebe, Non-Traditional Student (she, her, hers). Phoebe is a working mother enrolled at Collinsville Community College in a targeted career training program. Her courses were moved online and taught through a learning management system during the pandemic. Although this format was initially tricky, Phoebe grew to like the flexibility of the online courses because she could come home from work, make dinner, tend to her children, and then log in at night to complete coursework after putting her children to bed. She did not have to drive to a physical location or worry about babysitters because she could learn from the convenience of home.
Luis, Traditional Student (he, him, his). Luis is a recent high school graduate in his second year at Collinsville Community College in the same targeted career training program as Phoebe. He hated online courses during the pandemic because of the lack of real-time interaction with faculty and peers. He also had neither a reliable computer nor a stable Wi-Fi connection at home and preferred to work in the campus library and computer labs. He could not afford a four-year residential institution, so he attended a local community college. He heard that there were opportunities to get involved with on-campus clubs and that the school had small class sizes with close instructor support. However, when he returned for physical classes on campus, the environment appeared dull, with little campus life. The parking lot was so empty when attending on-ground courses that he would leave after class because there was nothing to do. One cafeteria where he would eat had limited hours and minimal food and beverage options. If the situation did not improve soon on campus, he might transfer to a four-year public institution and commute.
Context and Case
In 2020, the dramatic shift to online learning in higher education caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic drastically and rapidly altered the learning environment at Collinsville Community College. Courses in all subject areas, both skills-based (e.g., allied health, culinary arts, graphic design) and traditional disciplines (e.g., physical and natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, etc.), were moved online. Videoconferencing technologies (e.g., Zoom, WebEx, Teams) were employed along with web-based Learning Management Systems (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle, Canvas).
Setting Description/Institutional Context:
After two years of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in the fall of 2022, campus personnel at Collinsville Community College, one of the largest community colleges in the state, resumed pre-COVID operations and activities. Approximately 70% of courses continue to be offered online (pre-COVID, only 10% of courses were online), and on-campus life has been lackluster. Student clubs and campus activities have been slow to return, and most full-time faculty continue teaching the majority of their courses online. Many faculty and students have enjoyed the convenience and flexibility of teaching and learning online. However, some faculty are apprehensive about returning to pre-COVID on-campus expectations being thrust upon them by campus and system leadership, who are concerned about declining enrollments and want more on-campus faculty presence and engagement.
Enrollment Pressures, Decision Making, and Equity
As the department worked on the upcoming course schedule, they discussed a current situation to offer a course on-ground that failed to reach “double digits” (only nine students registered), so the administration canceled it just a few days before the start of a new semester. In the previous semester, the same class was offered online and had full enrollment (24 students), which was the highest ever. The faculty were frustrated because they were asked to move more classes to the on-ground format instead of online.
The decision was difficult as the pressure of possible course cancellations compounded the situation. Last-minute class cancellations by the administration were now more frequent and seen as a short-term cost-cutting measure but had adverse long-term effects. The course cancellations cause the institution and academic programs to appear unstable and unpredictable and can derail students’ retention and college persistence. This short-sighted practice is an institution’s attempt to “focus on efficiency and cost/revenue generation subordinating principles and practices aimed at social justice and equity” (Kezar & Posselt, 2020, p.5).
Additionally, enrollment at Collinsville Community College is 7% below the previous fall (2021) and 14% down from pre-COVID fall (2019). The enrollment situation is watched closely by the system office (a centralized office managing all the state’s community colleges), and this pressure is trickling down to local leadership. Enrollment declines at community colleges are a national problem exacerbated by the pandemic. Community colleges play a critical role in higher education and the larger society, serving greater percentages of students from low-income and marginalized backgrounds (Bulman & Fairlie, 2021).
Disruptive Change, Disruptive Technologies, and Organized Anarchies
Entering the post-pandemic, Collinsville Community College has been slow to return to in-person instruction suggesting that disruptive change has occurred. Online instruction has become a permanent modality, shifting how the institution conducts business. It is a confusing time for campus leaders when planning course schedules, managing faculty workloads, and providing campus activities. Five years before the pandemic, the prediction was that “technology trends will profoundly continue to alter higher education” (Manning, 2019, p. 3). That prediction has become a reality.
Furthermore, students and faculty have different points of view, which complicates the environment and creates an uncertain organizational structure. The juggling of multiple realities in the organized anarchy perspective creates an uncertain organizational structure, and tensions amongst personnel continue to be high.
Discussion Questions
- Consider the positions and perspectives of each of the characters in this case study. What challenges might each of them face in the context of this case and how might they navigate those challenges? What opportunities might exist for each character?
- What factors do community colleges need to address in a post-pandemic model to increase enrollment and retain students?
- With a push to more online courses, what actions can community colleges take to stay true to their ” community ” mission”?
- How can community colleges cultivate a campus sense of belonging when most courses are offered online?
- What are the institutional benefits and barriers to offering more in-person classes?
- Considering the character profiles in this case scenario, what are the equity issues for community college students in a post-pandemic model?
Conclusion
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has significantly altered operations at our nation’s community colleges. Enrollment declines have been precipitous and might vary substantially compared to four-year colleges (Bulman & Fairlie, 2021). All campus stakeholders’ diverse needs and preferences, internal and external, are critical for campus leaders to understand better as they prepare for the future.
When we reflect upon the sweeping shift to online learning formats precipitated by the pandemic, “disruptive technologies are disruptive for a short period before they are either incorporated into our lives or passed over for the new technology” (Manning, 2019, p. 144). As leaders look deeply into the “crystal ball” to predict the future of the community college, they must listen closely to the multiple perspectives (as represented through the characters in this case) to effectively adapt and more importantly, better serve the needs of students in the post-COVID environment.
References
Bulman, G., & Fairlie, R. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on community college enrollment and student success: Evidence from California administrative data. Education Finance and Policy, 1-20.
Kezar, A., & Posselt, J. (Eds.). (2019). Higher education administration for social justice and equity: Critical perspectives for leadership. Routledge.
Manning, K. (2017). Organizational theory in higher education. Routledge.
Author Bio
Carla Adams (she, her, hers) is a full-time professor at Manchester Community College (MCC) in Manchester, Connecticut. Professor Adams teaches courses in office technologies/computer applications and business communication. She has experience with various delivery formats, including on-ground, hybrid, and online (synchronous and asynchronous) classes. During her 20-year career in higher education, Professor Adams served in various administrative roles, including Department Chair of Information Management and Technology, Program Coordinator of the Supported Education and Business Office Technology Programs, and most currently, as Coordinator of the Social Science, Business and Professional Careers Division. Additionally, Professor Adams is in the Educational Leadership Ed.D. program at the University of Hartford.