Over the past couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure of engaging with our students and continue to be impressed by their resilience, fortitude and hopefulness. They truly have been inspiring!

Besides missing the face-to-face interaction and campus life, they like the following:

• Not commuting

• Convenience of learning at home

• Eating whenever they want to

• How we are delivering our classes and services online

• Our communication with them on a regular basis

In my meetings with them, I asked two questions. The first was what are you experiencing as a remote learner? The 10 most common answers follow:

1. They are experiencing Zoom fatigue.

2. They wish there would be more activities in their classes.

3. They are worried about their long-term financial situation.

4. They are feeling lonely, at times, especially if they live alone.

5. They seem to experience more fear, worry and depression than prior to going remote.

6. They are concerned about the upcoming flu season.

7. They need to declutter their workspaces and computer filing systems.

8. They are learning how to define boundaries between their home and academic lives.

9. They have seen their workload increase, partly because they share their computer with family members, mainly their children, who may be taking classes in elementary, middle and high schools.

10. They miss the many face-to-face extracurricular activities we offered throughout the semester on each of our campuses.

When I asked them what I or the College community could do to assist them, the 10 most common answers included the following:

1. Keep me engaged out of the classroom (for example, virtual projects and internships)

2. Demonstrate that you like me by asking how I am doing

3. Affirm my attempts at completing assignments or contributing in class

4. Keep me connected in class discussions

5. Ensure the workload and related assignments are reasonable and manageable

6. Encourage me to keep going when I show discouragement

7. Talk about your experiences as a remote employee and person so I know that I am not alone

8. Tell me that you admire all I am going through while continuing my education

9. Promote, regularly, all of the support services available to me (including food security and mental health)

10. Reach out to us in affinity groups if you are interested in learning more about us and our recommendations on how to enhance the delivery of classes and services

I hope we can appreciate all our students and colleagues are going through to keep the College operational. I also hope these comments remind us to be kind to our students and each other, because “…everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”

Please email me at ski@hacc.edu and let me know what you are hearing from students, how you are helping them and/or what we need to do to better help them succeed. You may also share your ideas via hacc.edu/feedback.

Thank you.