Welcome Back Vikings
Spring 2021 kicks off with a welcome from Barstow Community College Superintendent-President
On this start of classes for our spring 2021 semester, I want to acknowledge the significance of certain events and experiences that impact all of us and the work that we continue to do. The attack on the Capitol last week has our nation and the world still reeling to make sense of and respond to the event and to prepare for the transition to a new federal administration. As students resume classes this week, surely faculty and staff will be faced with providing students yet further structure and support to understand, process, and find a path forward in their own lives, given these recent events. And this is on top of the continued surge in cases of COVID and the fact that we are nearing the one-year anniversary from the time of the initial stay-at-home order and physical closure of our campus to students and the public.
Please know how grateful and proud I am of our amazing college community for your continued dedication and resolve to provide every possible support and resource available to ensure our students have the opportunity to continue pursuing their educational and career goals. Many individuals continue working behind the scenes to leverage all financial, technical, and human resources available as we continue to operate at both the system and local levels in a state of emergency while delivering classes and supports of all kinds in mostly remote ways. Faculty, I know that although today is the first official day back to classes, your preparations for the new semester continue to call on you to reckon with the additional challenges of remote teaching and so many students understandably struggling beyond "normal" to stay focused on the coursework at hand. And although our enrollments this year continue to be down nearly 20% from last year, staff are going to extraordinary means to reach out to students to remind them we are here ready to support and assist them with not only their academic and financial needs, but with their basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, as well as their needs to support their physical and mental health.
We all know for certain that we will continue serving our students and community in a nearly fully online manner throughout the entire spring semester. Very soon, with input from our constituent leaders, we will need to make decisions about the summer and fall semesters as it relates to the delivery of classes and services. We will continue to develop the plan for an eventual safe reopening of campus, with close attendance to the triggers and milestones that must be monitored before any movement in the direction of reopening is initiated. We will also continue to advance our work to clarify our educational pathways and to support students with their learning and keeping them engaged and on track in achieving their educational goals. We continue to be proactive in identifying business and industry partners both locally and regionally to assist with workforce training and economic recovery and development for our community. With all of this work, we will continue to advance our efforts to support diversity, equity and inclusion and to find opportunities with policy and practice to remove barriers that have historically impeded access and progress for many of our students.
I am confident that we will continue to serve as a positive example to our students and our community through our shared commitment to equitable student success and to do so in a collaborative and caring manner. I urge us all to try and stay focused on our shared higher purpose. Despite the nearly unbelievable and still difficult to fully comprehend events and pressures that we have worked under for several months, we serve as a beacon of hope and model of kindness to so many students and the community. You are supporting our students through these seemingly unbearable circumstances of our times, meeting needs well beyond their academic needs, and providing tools and knowledge to keep them focused on their goals and dreams.
Please know that I and my leadership team recognize and deeply appreciate your dedication and the toll recent events and ongoing conditions continue to place on you. We are here for you and will work through the coming semester to support you to the best of our abilities. Let's all lock arms, lean on one another, and take care of one another as we forge onward. Over the weekend I heard a news report about a nurse's cry now for an "uprising of kindness." At BCC, we have already been waving that flag and will continue to do so. No matter how dark our world sometimes becomes, light reliably emerges in the form of human kindness and optimism.
I wish you all a good day and a brighter 2021.
Warm regards,
Dr. Eva Bagg
Superintendent-President
Barstow Community College
