How administrators, staff, faculty and students worked together to pull off a post-quake miracle at Germanna

GCC pursues online classes



Germanna nursing and dental hygiene students return to class as details are ironed out for all others



Date published: 8/31/2011



By PAMELA GOULD



Nursing and dental hygiene students resumed classes at Germanna Community College yesterday as deans finalized plans for the rest of the students whose classes were disrupted by an earthquake on the second day of the fall semester.



The challenge has been finding a way to continue instruction for the 4,400 people who registered for classes at the V. Earl Dickinson Building on the Fredericksburg Area Campus. That structure, built in 1997, suffered significant damage from the magnitude-5.8 earthquake on Aug. 23 centered in Louisa County.



The building won't be available for use until January at the earliest.



The goal has been to find a way to keep those students on campus this fall in the Massaponax area of Spotsylvania County, said Deborah Brock, dean of arts and sciences, and Bill Fiege, dean of technical and professional studies.



College spokesman Mike Zitz said many in the community responded to a request for space but, with a few exceptions, Germanna officials have chosen not to move classes.



Instead, the deans said Germanna has relocated some of the 321 classes scheduled for Dickinson into the Workforce and Community Education Building on the same campus.



Many classes were restructured. Forty will be taught totally online. Others will be a mix of online and classroom, while the rest will be in different classrooms. Fewer than five classes had to be canceled.



The college is adding a few 10-week courses to meet the needs of students who couldn't take their classes after they were rescheduled.



Those courses will begin Sept. 28, have longer meeting times, and end at the same time as regular 15-week semester classes, Fiege said.



They will meet at the Locust Grove Campus and on the Stafford campus of the University of Mary Washington, Zitz said.



Students started the fall semester on Aug. 22. Classes were in session when the earthquake began shortly before 2 p.m. last Tuesday.



Germanna President David Sam canceled classes indefinitely immediately after the earthquake so that structures at all campuses could be inspected.



Germanna offers classes in its own buildings in Culpeper, Orange and Spotsylvania counties. It also holds classes in office space in North Stafford.



Germanna Community College officials have been working over the past week to accommodate students enrolled for classes at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, whose chief academic building was significantly damaged in the magnitude-5.8 earthquake.



Only the Dickinson building has significant structural damage.



Though nursing and dental hygiene students returned to class yesterday at the Locust Grove Campus in Orange, students at all other sites will resume Sept. 6.



Germanna may lease space for noncredit classes and personnel being displaced from the Workforce building.



The Fredericksburg Area Campus lost 22 classrooms, its six science labs and two computer labs with the closing of the Dickinson building.



The Workforce building has 18 classrooms and two computer labs.



College officials are optimistic that even students who have shied away from online courses will find they like that option.



"We think some may be glad they have had the opportunity," Brock said.



Fiege cited a study that found 30 percent of college students have taken at least one online course. He also said that with today's technology, online learning can be very interactive.



He noted that faculty--many of whom now have iPads--can respond quickly, utilize online chats to communicate, and can rapidly post announcements using the college's electronic blackboard.



"It's very user-friendly," Fiege said.



Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972

Email: pgould@freelancestar.com



Germanna Community College officials have been working over the past week to accommodate students enrolled for classes at the Fredericksburg Area Campus, whose chief academic building was significantly damaged in the magnitude-5.8 earthquake on Aug. 23.



4,400--Number of students enrolled in classes meeting in the V. Earl Dickinson Building, which was damaged



321--Number of classes scheduled to meet there



10--Number of offices available for 150 to 200 faculty members



1--Number of GCC buildings significantly damaged