AACC Showed "Resiliency And Vigor" In Coronavirus Response: Award

ARNOLD, MD — The Anne Arundel Community College won an award recognizing the school for its coronavirus response. The League for Innovation in the Community College presented AACC with the Innovation of the Year Award on Friday, applauding its transition online.

The league said AACC showed "resiliency and vigor" by converting 1,250 classes to a virtual format. The college also impressed the league by creating training videos to teach students and faculty how to navigate their new online spaces.

“As early as February, AACC began to work to ensure continuity of operations and delivery of our mission despite a growing pandemic,” AACC President Dawn Lindsay said in a press release. “The unprecedented times required unprecedented responses, and I thank our faculty and staff for their dedication, innovation and hard work, along with the students being so open to adapting quickly and moving forward with success.”

AACC gave students and employees access to Microsoft Teams, an online collaborative program. Teams allowed professors to continue teaching live classes with mass videochat.

Recognizing that some students may not have computers at home, the community college also expanded its technology loaner program. A final source of praise was the school's development of a secure connection that allowed faculty and staff to tap into their work computers from home.

The League for Innovation in the Community College is an international nonprofit that aims to cultivate unique educational experiences. The league created the award more than 35 years ago to recognize noteworthy member colleges.

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