In-person classes start at TRC

Three Rivers College officials described students as being excited as they returned to classes Monday.

“The first day has gone surprising well,” said Ann Matthews, dean of Student Services. “ … I think everybody is excited to be back on campus … just to feel like we are back to normal. I hope it is going to be a great school year.”

The first day has been “extremely busy,” said Chris Adams, director of Enrollment Services and Student Development. “ … The students coming through the doors appear to be excited to be here.

“I can’t say it is business as usual because of the masks everyone is wearing, but the students are ready for classes.”

Other than the required masks, “I haven’t noticed any other differences from the (previous) first day of classes,” Adams said.

Enrollment, Adams said, is going well given “everything that is going on.”

Adams said preliminary enrollment for the fall semester is at about 2,800, but the final enrollment numbers won’t be known until after about Aug. 24.

That number is down “just a little bit, not much at all,” but could change, Adams said.

“We have many students who take classes as high school seniors,” in the dual-credit program, Adams said. “We don’t know how many dual-credit students are out there.”

As far as TRC’s online enrollment, Adams said, there has been an increase, but “we still have the majority of our students taking face-to-face classes.”

Last year, “we had a little over 500 students totally online,” Adams said. “This year, it’s a little over 800 students,” which equates to a 60% increase in online enrollment.

Adams estimates the final enrollment total will be between 2,800 and 3,000 students.

Adjunct instructor Susan Carter (left) helps Drequan Mallory during his fist day of math class Monday at Three Rivers College. DAR/Paul Davis

Enrollment services, Adams said, deal with all students as they come in, and they have been “nothing, but positive. … We haven’t had anyone not happy … no complaints about the safety measures in place.”

Chuck Stratton, director of public safety, said he believes the precautions are being well received, with “no complaints, no push back.”

“Some of the changes we’ve made, we are requiring facial coverings within all the buildings and social distancing outside,” Stratton said. “We’ve rearranged some furnishings in some areas to maintain social distancing.”

Those areas, Stratton said, include “eating areas” and areas where students take breaks between classes.

With guidance from the Butler County Health Department and a team of doctors, Stratton said, students will not have to maintain social distancing in the classrooms as long as everyone is wearing masks.

“We are running regular class sizes with everyone wearing facial coverings, including the instructors,” Stratton said.

The college, he said, also has enhanced its sanitation procedures.

“For example, computers, keyboards, mice are wiped down, sanitized after every use,” Stratton explained. “Our IT technicians are wearing gloves.”

Stratton said the college purchased “3,000 masks that we’ve handed out to students, and we had a donation of 42,000 individual bottles of hand sanitizer that we’ve handed out to each student. They’ve got personal protection and hand sanitizer.”

Of all the students on campus Monday, “I think I had to hand out two masks because they did not bring their own,” Matthews said. “Everyone else had a mask. All have been appreciative with the hand sanitizer we’ve handed them as well.”

Stratton said there is “always an adjustment period” when new procedures are implemented, but “all in all, I think the flow has been very good” thus far.