So Far, So Good as Blinn’s Schulenburg Campus Returns to Life This Fall

School has been in session not only for Fayette County’s public and Catholic schools, but It’s also back to school for college students as well. Blinn’s Fall 2020 semester started on August 24 at the Schulenburg campus and many new COVID precautions and procedures have been put in place.

Executive Dean Dr. Becky Garlick of the Blinn College-Schulenburg Campus said, “Blinn has setup a Back With Blinn plan which provides detailed information about how we are providing a safe environment for our students’ return.”

Blinn’s Back With Blinn plan includes a new self-certification app that must be done by anyone who is entering any campus facility, a wider selection of fourand eight-week courses, plus online and blended courses, and the changes made on campus to protect students, employees and campus visitors. All students also had to complete the Mandatory Student COVID Training, which took place via email.

Blinn has offered four options for students for the fall semester: Live Online, Traditional with Live Online, Blended with Live Online, and Flexible Online. Live Online is where all class participation takes place live at the scheduled class time. Traditional with Live Online is when students rotate between attending class on campus and participate live online at the scheduled class time. Blended with Live Online is when students rotate between attending class on campus and participate live online at the scheduled class time, but more than half the class content is posted online so students can complete work on their schedule. Flexible Online is where all class content is online for students with no scheduled class times. On the Schulenburg campus, Dr. Garlick said she is seeing numbers down for in-person students, but the virtual students are up. Overall, the number of students has evened out.

These options though have allowed students from multiple cities to be able to participate with the Schulenburg campus students.

“I have classes where students are socially-distanced and attending in person but who are being joined by students participating synchronously from devices at home. So I have students “attending” from all over the Blinn College service area but also beyond from such cities as Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Victoria . . . it’s a fun mix,” said Blinn College-Schulenburg English Professor Audrey Wick.

COVID has not only played a part in Blinn students’ learning capabilities but the faculty’s teaching methods as well. Professor Wick said, “All professors have had to learn new software as well as transfer many of their existing activities into a new, digital-friendly format. We have also become completely paperless in the classroom, so students in my writing class submit all of their essays, projects, and quizzes electronically.”

As far as students’ morale Garlick said, “We have a wonderful group of students who have been complying with what Blinn has in place for COVID. I think it is because a lot of our students come from smaller schools and are more aware of what to do.” Professor Wick added, “There’s great energy from excited students in Schulenburg as the campus has come alive again for Fall 2020. It’s very encouraging to see! Students have been incredibly polite, and I’ve been impressed with their diligence in following protocol and their level of respect in helping keep each other safe.”

Visit https://www.blinn.edu/ back-with-blinn/index.html for the full Back With Blinn plan for an overview of what the college is requiring of students for the Fall 2020 semester.