Learning Moves Online with Focus on Innovation and Equity At the pandemic’s onset, swift action and dedicated efforts by administrators, faculty, and staff created a thriving virtual-learning environment. By Lindsey Frey Palmquist
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AT ST. CATHERINE • SPECIAL PRINT EDITION 2020
“I came back and everything was different. I was in shock,” says Grose. “I had to do a two-week quarantine at home, everything was shut down, and my graduation ceremony was postponed.”
BEHIND THE SCENES While Grose was at sea, St. Catherine University administrators were hard at work. Within those two weeks, they launched new safety protocols, technology investments, and virtual-learning innovations to support students, faculty, and staff with St. Kate’s mission at the helm. “Our immediate concern was the safety of our students, faculty, and staff,” says Anita Thomas, PhD, executive vice president and provost of St. Kate’s. “Bringing our students home safely from Global Studies programs was our first action. We also canceled any additional travel-abroad programs that were scheduled for spring break.” St. Kate’s simultaneously closed early for spring
NATALIE GROSE PROVIDED
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atalie Grose ’20 (below) first learned the serious impact COVID-19 would have on her senior year while she was standing on the deck of a sailboat in Mexico. She had left St. Kate’s early for spring break to crew the boat, intending to be back in time for classes to resume on March 30. “I traveled to Mexico when everything still seemed normal,” says Grose. “But within a few days of my arrival, our replacement crew members were no longer allowed to travel there. I wanted to help the group get home safely with a proper crew, so rather than navigate the airport closings, I decided to sail back to California with them.” On April 6, Grose docked in Sausalito, Calif., returning to a world that had seemingly upended while she was out on the ocean.
