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NEWS
THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 7, 2021
AROUND MESA
City seeking nominations for Mesa historic awards
The city Historic Preservation Board is seeking nominations for Mesa’s historic preservation awards for outstanding achievement. Nominations must be submitted by 6 p.m. March 29. The awards, which can be presented to an individual, group or organization, are in the categories of archaeology, adaptive reuse, education/outreach/ media, landscape preservation, local preservationist, restoration/preservation/rehabilitation, stewardship, individual lifetime achievement and in the new category of outstanding infill construction, recognizing new construction in a historic district or historic context. The 2021 recipients will be honored at a future City Council meeting. Any individual is welcome to submit a nomination. Information: Mesa Historic Preservation Coordinator Arianna Urban at arianna.urban@mesaaz.gov. Nomination forms are at mesaaz.gov/residents/ historic-preservation-office. Since 1998, the City has recognized more than 50
citizens and preservation projects for their contributions to historic preservation in Mesa.
MCC student makes it to All-Arizona academic team
Mesa Community College student Mia Haas is among the East Valley students named to the college district’s All-Arizona Academic Team Haas plans to transfer to Arizona State University’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts to earn a degree in counseling and applied psychological science. Her career goal is to work as a licensed substance abuse, addiction and chemical dependency counselor for adolescents and women. All-Arizona students demonstrate academic excellence and intellectual rigor combined with leadership and service that extends their education beyond the classroom to benefit society. Each student is working toward an associate’s degree, maintains a GPA of 3.5 or higher and is involved in campus and community volunteerism. Information: azregents.edu/programs/all-arizonaacademic-team.
Mesa Farmers Market has moved to Arts Center
The Downtown Mesa Association has relocated the New Downtown Farmers Market to Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. Vendors include farmers, food and other artisans and others. Hours are Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through spring and 7-11 a.m. in summer. Information: dtmesafarmersmarket.com. Vendors can contact Leslie Criger at 602-299-3270 or lesormore54@yahoo.com or Nancy Hormann at 480-890-2613 or Nancy@downtownmesa.com.
Arts Center slates 2 big online events this month
The Mesa Arts Center has scheduled several major events this month online. The National Geographic Live! Virtual Speaker series continues with “Feats of Filmmaking” on March 17. Extreme feats in some of the world’s most inhospitable places are presented by filmmaker Bryan Smith and photographer Keith Ladzinski. A virtual pass can
be purchased at MesaArtsCenter.com. The Classical Music Inside Out virtual series presents Duo Parnas on March 18. Duo Parnas is a critically acclaimed collaboration of sisters – violinist Madalyn Parnas and cellist Cicely Parnas. Looking down the road, the center will present – hopefully in person – ”Alton Brown: Beyond The Eats” on Nov. 11. Brown says fans can expect “more cooking, more comedy, more music and more potentially dangerous science stuff.” Critics and fans have raved about the interactive components of Brown’s shows. He warns “prepare for an evening unlike any other and if I call for volunteers… think twice.” Tickets are on sale at MesaArtsCenter.com.
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MCC struggling with pandemic-fueled enrollment dip BY TOM SCANLON Tribune Managing Editor
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second dip at Mesa Community College enrollment could be called “the online class fade” or “Zoom burnout.” After a sharp drop in students at the beginning of the semester likely caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lori M. Berquam tracked another drop two months into the spring semester. The MCC interim president forced a smile and shook her head during an interview with the Tribune – via Google Meetings, �ittingly. “Our numbers have been declining. Last semester and this semester we certainly did see a decline in enrollment,” Berquam said. “We were already down about 14 percent from enrollment (at the beginning of the semester. We’ve dropped another 4 percent since then.” Berquam was MCC’s executive vice president of Academic and Student Affairs when she was appointed as interim president Feb. 1, 2020. A month later, Maricopa County had its �irst COVID-19 case. The virus raged through the county and state, leading Gov. Doug Ducey’s order closing all Arizona schools last spring. MCC continued instruction online-only for months.
“Mesa Community College was about being in small classrooms connecting with students. That was our value, that is what we were built on,” Berquam said. “We had to shift quickly. And are still shifting.” The Mesa school, the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, remains in mostly-online mode this semester. “About 10 to 18 percent of classes are now face-to-face,” Berquam said. Though emergency medical technician, welding and a few other courses meet outdoors – with no more than 10 students for each in-person class – the campus on Dobson Road just north of US 60 is quiet, if not quite a “ghost campus.” Studying at the library, eating at the cafeteria, socializing with friends and generally “hanging out at school” remain off limits. “It’s car to class to car. Public areas not open,” Berquam said. The great majority of classes being taught online is directly related to that second drop in enrollment, Berquam believes. “People are done with Zoom and video classes,” she said with an empathetic sigh. “For educators, the challenge is, ‘How do I get people engaged?’” Two full semesters into the pandemic, a clear pattern emerged. “We have a drop off after about 10 weeks. We keep kids virtually engaged for eight weeks nine weeks, then we lose
them,” Berquam said. She feels students are able to self-manage for the �irst month or so of virtual classrooms, and then challenges start to stack up. Staring at a computer all day is too much, for some. For others, it’s a bandwidth challenge, especially if they have kids taking their own online classes and/or spouses working from home. “We are not meant to be a virtual college. We are designed to be face to face,” Berquam said. “We are designed to be small in nature, (providing) interactions with students in the classroom. “What we’re seeing in the drop in enrollment is that’s what students want.” The biggest challenge has been in traderelated courses. “We know that students want that hands -on experience. It’s hard to do welding online or automotive repair online. How to do pottery or sculpting online?” she said. “Our faculty has been very creative with take-home lab kits. “But there’s great interest in returning to what we love.” The good news is that with COVID-19 cases falling in the state and county with simultaneous increases in vaccinations, more in-person classes are planned at MCC this summer. “Our goal is to offer a few more face-toface classes each semester,” Berquam said,
adding it’s too early to know when MCC and other community colleges can return to normal. MCC’s current semester ends the �irst week of May, with a “drive-thru graduation” planned for May 14. “It’s important to honor our graduates,” Berquam said. Though some retirements have not been �illed, she said Mesa Community College did not have to do any involuntary staff cuts. And the MCC of old, with students-inseats and a buzzing campus, may not be far away. “Our hope is, once there are greater levels of vaccinations, we’ll be able to welcome people back,” Berquam said. For more information, visit mesacc. edu.
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