TWO THOUSAND TWENTY - THREE SPRING EDITION SIGNING OFF FROM COVID-19 It was March 12, 2020, that I sent the first message to the MCC campus sharing information about the COVID-19 virus that had made its way to our country. What I thought would be an email to update and caution our employees about a health risk that had not yet touched us very quickly changed. It became numerous emails as the situation seemed to change on an hourly basis. It became even more emails as decisions were made to change our instructional delivery and eventually to close our doors and send our employees into the new world of remotely offering instruction and services for our students. Little did I know at the time that I would send, at a minimum, weekly Monday updates to the campus community for well over a year. After that first year, as we learned more about the virus, the updates were sent as needed, but still, they continued. The updates continued until Monday, May 15, 2023, just a few days after the President declared the national pandemic emergency to be over. On that day I sent a message to campus saying that, after more than three years, I was “signing off” on pandemic updates. The past 38 months have been some of the more difficult of my professional career. While difficult, in some ways, they have also been some of the most rewarding. During those months, while our country experienced divisiveness and unrest, I witnessed the very best of human nature at MCC. Colleagues helping one another, employees reaching out to students, faculty, and staff serving the community, and everyone working together to keep the college moving forward. There was no “signing off” at MCC, only “signing on” to what needed to be done for our students, community, and college. When the world was shutting down, MCC found ways to serve our students. Our faculty found new ways to offer instruction that met the needs of students during a time when we didn’t know what the next week would bring. I was impressed by the strategies developed so that students could complete labs and clinicals necessary for the completion of credentials. Online advising and tutoring became commonplace for our staff as they assisted students. Meeting students on screen through Teams was the new office hours of 2020. While the world was shutting down, MCC also continued to serve its community. From providing ventilators to the hospital, to donating PPE from our Health Sciences campus, to printing face shields and building intubation boxes, to delivering supplies, to donating vegetables from our greenhouse. This college never lost sight of the fact that an important part of our mission is to support our community. While the world was shutting down, MCC continued to look to the future. Programs were developed and approved that would help us meet workforce needs post-pandemic. Grants were written to address the retention of healthcare workers which has become so critical in the past year. Every department in the college developed plans to ensure that students were served in the most effective way possible in a time of uncertainty. During the national emergency MCC continued to embody its mission of making college affordable and accessible for students. Not once in the three years did a call for assistance or a need to change a strategy go unanswered. This college stood to the challenge and grew despite the uncertainty. There was no “signing off” from this college during the difficult times. We persevered and became Stronger. How privileged am I to be part of such an institution.
Dr. Cynthia S. Kelley, President