–Courtesy 180
By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
As infection rates from COVID-19 lessen, restrictions and guidelines to protect us from the virus start to lift. And though many offices remain dark and desktop calendars tell of a lost year, employers, facilitators and volunteers are weighing when and if it’s time to return to the workplace.
GOING BACK TO COLLEGE
At Brookdale Community College, staff, faculty and students have been mostly operating remotely since March 10, 2020, according to Matthew Reed, vice president of academic affairs. With the exception of a few courses, such as auto tech, when hands-on involvement is important, students have logged in to classes virtually.
“Certainly, there was an adjustment period,” Reed said. “When we first went out it was March, two days before spring break. People kind of limped through that week. We had to retool in five days.
“It was a heavy lift.”
Reed credits the college’s teaching and learning center as well as its help desk for faculty. “Our instructional designers there and social technologists – they put in seven-day weeks for a month; helping faculty move courses and exams online and figure out how to convert mid-semester in a flash. They did heroic labor.”
Then teamwork kicked in and over the summer some faculty members put together an internal professional development course for themselves and to share with others.
Brookdale offers degrees in 75 academic programs as well as academic credit certificates of achievement and nondegree and noncredit courses; typically the college has a headcount between 10,000 and 11,000 in credit courses.
As restrictions lift and Brookdale prepares for students’ return, “opinions are split” about whether the move would be welcome, according to Reed, even within the same person. Comments have run the gamut, including: “I miss being on campus, I miss seeing students, but I’m also a little bit scared. I’ve learned to appreciate some of the advantages of working for home.”
After consultations and meetings with senior staff, he said, David Stout, president, decided they would “set a target” of having each employee on-site 60 percent of the time this fall. That would mean, for example, every full-time professor would teach two classes in a three-class-per-week course on campus each week.
“We spent an entire year learning how to do things remotely,” Reed said. “It would be a waste” to give it all up. Instead, he said, “it would make more sense now that we devel- oped this capability, to evaluate which tasks lend themselves to doing remotely and which ones should be in person… It would be a more efficient use of people’s time.”
Among students there have been “contradictory signals,” he said. “They want to be back – but they want to be back safely.”
Students and faculty in in-person classroom learning and in offices would still be required to abide by all safety guidelines, such as 6-feet distancing and mask-wearing.
“We want a robust in-person experience for students,” Reed said. And he pointed out there will be options for everyone.
“It’ll be more of a college life.”
A NEW WAY OF TEACHING
Literacy New Jersey provides free instruction to adults who need help with reading, writing, math and speaking English. Trained volunteer tutors work with adults one-to-one or in small groups to help them improve their language and literacy skills so they can reach their life goals.
Jhanna Even, Literacy NJ’s Monmouth County program director, said, as challenging as the year of the pandemic has been, students and tutors have adapted.
“We spent a little time acclimating,” she said. Within a month some groups were meeting online and tutors and students were getting together using Zoom.
According to Even, English as a Second Language (ESL) students, particularly, have adapted and appreciated learning English from home.
“They don’t have to worry about transportation and child care issues,” Even said. Many students do not have access to convenient transportation; in pre-pandemic times, classes were held at libraries and churches, often within walking distance to their homes.
She found ESL students, on the whole, were comfortable with technology. Even if they don’t have a computer in the home, they’re familiar with phone apps, often because they communicate with their families in their native countries with those apps. “They seem to do OK. It’s a little more challenging with a phone, but they’re managing,” she said.
The same goes for students in the U.S. citizenship classes. But it’s the basic literacy students who often have a more difficult time. “Their technology skills are not up to par and they suffer the most,” Even said of the English-speaking students who are working to improve their reading and writing levels.
“Many don’t have a computer and, if so, they need someone to show them how to use it,” she said. Some tutors have been mailing lessons and worksheets to the students.
But overall, “the majority of students are thriving,” Even said.
The organization also received tablets donated by Kunal Verma of DATA, Inc. which helped students without computers get on-line for classes.
In addition to missing the face-to-face interaction, some tasks also prove more challenging, Even said. When she administers proficiency tests to incoming and current students, she will often meet them in a library or shopping mall parking lot. “It works,” she said.
While she’s not sure what the next step will be and looks to Literacy NJ administrators and board to set policy, she is hoping for a hybrid situation.
Despite the challenges of online meetings – “a dog may be barking and people don’t know how to mute them,” Even pointed out, “This has shown us this can really work.”
VOLUNTEERING TO SAVE LIVES
When the pandemic first forced in-person group gatherings to go virtual, staff and volunteers at 180 Turning Lives Around knew this was not the time to leave their clients unsupported.
Studies show domestic violence incidents have increased during the pandemic, as victims are often left alone and isolated with their abusers. The need for some of 180’s services – such as hotline calls and shelter needs – were twice as high as they were before the pandemic, according to Anna Diaz-White, executive director of the organization.
180 provides survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families with free and confidential programs and resources to process and heal from their experiences.
“We’ve been operating at a normal-plus enhancement level,” said Susan Levine, victim support coordinator. “We went to working from home and we are still up and running, continuing counseling via phone. We’re meeting the needs of our clients where they are.”
She cites that services include phone support and adopting a video platform, but not Zoom because of confidentiality issues.
Now that many restrictions have been lifted, in-person support is available if the client wishes and support groups have resumed with a limit of one counselor and three survivors.
“We’re following all CDC guidelines,” she said. “It hasn’t been much of a pivot, but more enhancing what we’re doing.”
“We definitely see new clients all the time,” said Levine, “and many of them are new members from the community.” Whether it was through their 24-hour hotline or sexual assault hotline, the need has never diminished.
180 offers services such as Amanda’s Easel creative arts therapy for the youngest victims, linking clients to safe housing and more.
“Even though the court is closed, our family justice center is still open,” she said. At police headquarters in many towns, 180’s domestic violence and sexual response team have still been able to respond to victims. “We haven’t paused,” Levine said.
Recruiting volunteers and conducting training for domestic violence and sexual response teams hasn’t let up either, with those interested completing the 40 hours of training online. (Volunteers are currently being sought for the upcoming Sexual Assault Re- sponse Team training sessions; deadline is May 21. Visit 180nj.org for information.)
Having a support group like 180 – virtually – was helpful to many clients, said Levine about those who needed access but couldn’t come in person during the pandemic. “We were very glad to be there.”
This article originally appeared in the April 29 – May 5, 2021, print edition of The Two River Times.
