Brittany Lausen, SARDC President (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Sheldon Spackman

Upcoming Adjustments

RDC students excited to see more in-person learning next semester

Oct 30, 2020 | 9:40 AM

The president of the Students’ Association of Red Deer College (SARDC) says students are very excited to see that more in-person learning opportunities are planned for next term.

Brittany Lausen says students understand the college is trying to balance COVID-19 safety with optimal learning experiences, but acknowledges the announcement is especially good news for first-year students.

“It’s hard to replicate the college experience when our students are online,” she admits. “Our first year students haven’t even had that opportunity to experience what college is like. It still won’t be the same if say, they had come last year to Red Deer College, but I definitely think it will give them more opportunity to meet their peers, even if they’re in class for that one lecture day.”

Last week, RDC officials announced plans to deliver programs and courses for the upcoming Winter Term through a mixture of formats, including online, blended, and an increased number of in-person learning.

Lausen says students in their final year will also enjoy the increased classroom time, but uncertainty still remains regarding convocation next spring.

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“It almost feels like you’re unfinished,” she explains. “For the Class of 2020, it kind of just felt like they finished their degree but it was very unfinished in the way that they ended their time in school. So I think being able to bring our final year students back to a little more normalcy, brings a little more closure.”

RDC President Dr. Peter Nunoda said in-person learning activities will increase to about 40 per cent for the Winter Term starting in January, meaning 2,000 to 3,000 students will be on-campus each day, along with faculty and staff. Remaining students will continue to learn online.

“We have ensured the safety of individuals who might have been potentially exposed and we are always mindful of the safety of our staff and students,” says Nunoda. “The announcement is indicative of the fact that we remain positive, and we believe that we should be able to offer more face-to-face opportunities for students.”

Nunoda admitted that recent rises in COVID-19 cases in Red Deer are a concern.

“The direction that we’ve given to faculty is to be prepared for full, online delivery as we have done in the fall. We don’t believe that pivoting, if we needed to close or suspend face-to-face classes, would be a problem.”

Kylie Thomas, Vice President Academic and Research, said the decision was made based on factors related to learner success at attaining course outcomes.

“We pushed as much theory as possible to the Fall semester so that we could deliver the applied and lab-based learning in the Winer semester,” she explained. “And with respect to new learners and first-year learners, the online experience doesn’t necessarily offer the socialization aspects of your first year of college. So we’re hoping certainly for the learners that did relocate to Red Deer and have been participating virtually, that they’ll actually have opportunities to connect.”

Nunoda noted that RDC has no expectations from students not living locally to relocate to Red Deer to complete their Winter Term.

“That’s why the blended online option remains in place,” he said. “I don’t believe that students who choose not to come to Red Deer to take part in the face-to-face are going to be in any way compromised in their ability to complete successfully their semester.”

For Grade 12 grads that have opted for a ‘gap year’ this year due to the pandemic, Thomas encouraged those students to reconsider.

“We are offering dual environments and they can participate face-to-face or online, so if you were thinking of coming to school, this is the semester to do it.”