Seneca College RED 2020 - 18

RETTY MUCH EVERYTHING CHANGED on March 16 when
Premier Doug Ford announced a state of emergency,
essentially closing the province of Ontario due to
the threat posed by COVID-19.
Only a day before, Seneca had cancelled in-person
classes and began preparations to move all learning
and services online.
The first major global pandemic of our times has
changed all of our lives. For Seneca's employees,
students and alumni, the year 2020 will be remembered as one that caused great challenges and unexpected hardships.
But like so many events where humanity is tested by the unexpected,
stories of triumph over adversity begin to be heard.
For Seneca, these stories are about staff finding new ways to
continue working, students learning in new ways and our alumni
facing the effects of the virus head-on.
" This extraordinary time for the entire Seneca community
demanded resilience, innovation and adaptability, " says Seneca
President David Agnew. " Everybody - students, employees, alumni
and partners - responded magnificently. But I'll admit that it has
been like playing a sport where the goalposts keep shifting. "
With the safety of its students and employees as its primary
concern, Seneca has also had to figure out ways to continue
teaching and conduct its core business operations. That included
making sure students and faculty were able to finish the winter
semester online.
" It was hard to believe it was happening - suddenly you had a
week to determine what the rest of the semester was going to look
like, " says Jon Olinski, professor and program co-ordinator in the
School of Legal, Public & Office Administration. " We really put
a lot of planning into our courses and we were at a critical point in
the semester where students were graduating in a month and a
half. We were just entering the final evaluation phase and suddenly
had to re-think all that while finding new ways to provide enough
academic rigour to meet program learning outcomes. "
For Amy Lin, Director of the Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC),
that meant a quick turnaround during the week Seneca was closed
to ensure all classes would be available online by March 23.

RED

2020

" There was so much work to do in a short time, and we're so used
to being in the office to do it, " she says. " We had to learn how to
pitch in from home. "
With technical support from Seneca's Information Technology
Services, TLC staff uploaded educational tools and templates,
conducted webinars and worked with faculty.
" Many are already experienced with some of the technology but
we were able to offer new tools they may not have been familiar
with, and there were newer faculty and part-time faculty who had
not had the opportunity to teach online. "
News ways of teaching
The lack of online teaching experience was the most daunting
aspect for Mr. Olinski. As a program co-ordinator, he had to learn
the technology for himself and for his faculty - most of whom are
legal and public administration professionals who teach part time.
" Everyone had a unique situation, " he says. " We had to decide
what made sense for them, and based on their skills, knowledge and
background, where to start. We ended up using a number of
different tools that were available to us. I actually met each of
the faculty individually using (online meeting software) WebEx
and we became familiar with it that way. "
To provide students some consistency, Mr. Olinski decided to keep
his class schedule the same and delivered live lectures using WebEx.
" Students didn't sign up for all this, " he says. " They signed up
for a traditional classroom experience, and I tried to deliver that as
much as possible. "
Thanks to the hard work of many staff, faculty were able to meet
with classes online, provide instruction by using a live view of their
desktop, host videos and use discussion boards.
" Looking back, it was stressful, " Ms. Lin says, " but it really went
smoothly because we care about teaching and learning - this is
what we're here for, to support faculty. The goal was always to
make sure they had access to what they needed to be successful
and that our students were successful. "
Even though campuses were closed, they weren't empty. Campus
Security ensured the buildings were secure while maintenance
staff kept them operating. Some students who required hands-on

Seneca College RED 2020

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