Camden County College To Mix In-Person, Virtual Learning In Fall

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Camden County College will use a mix of online and in-person classes when it reopens this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, college officials announced on Thursday.

Most fall 2020 for-credit, workforce development, and noncredit courses will be offered online or remotely, according to Camden County College President Donald A. Borden.

Many nursing, health sciences, lab, and studio courses will be offered in-person subject to state approval and adherence to safety protocols recommended by the health care community.

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“As we continue to monitor COVID-19 and its impact on College operations, we remain acutely aware of how the pandemic will affect campus re-entry and fall 2020 semester instruction.” Borden said. “Our primary responsibility is to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and community members as we gradually reintegrate onto our campuses and instructional sites. Public safety and security measures, including CDC standards for access, wellness monitoring, and social distancing will guide our fall teaching strategy.”

On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said in-person clinical labs and hands-on programming at colleges will be allowed to resume on July 1. Career and training schools can also reopen on July 1. Read more here: Gov. Murphy Allowing More NJ Reopenings, Colleges To Return

The college has assembled a task force that is working on an array of re-entry strategies, Borden said. Among contingency planning is a Curriculum and Instruction subgroup comprised of Academic Affairs faculty and administrators.

The task force has explored alternative teaching approaches from various perspectives including space, classroom and laboratory resources, and how class meetings could be safely and effectively managed in the fall.

“Ultimately, unrestricted face-to-face instruction for lecture course sections is not achievable for the fall 2020 semester, even with carefully-staged sequencing of students, rotating class meeting days and times, and essential social distancing and sanitation protocols.” Borden said. “The burden placed on students, faculty members, facilities personnel, housekeeping, and our Public Safety staff would prove not only unmanageable, but unsafe.”

For the fall, all lecture course sections will be offered in an online modality. Those courses containing both lecture and lab instructional components will convert to a hybrid course model, allowing for limited in-person instruction in keeping with the governor’s plan and CDC standards.

Sequenced re-entry for in-person lab and practicum courses that could not be completed for the spring will have first preference when campuses reopen. A prioritized re-entry timeline for staging in-person fall lab and practicum instruction is likewise in preparation for students’ return to campus.

The coronavirus pandemic is a fluid situation, re-entry details will evolve and could change. The college is prepared to reassess and readjust our approach to fall teaching modalities should circumstances dictate, Borden said.

Registration for the fall semester is taking place now at www.camdencc.edu.