Author Archives: rkatwal2

How has covid negatively affected community colleges and what have Community Colleges done to counter the negative effects?

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                                    Covid-19

 This research is about the negative effects of COVID-19, how it has impacted community colleges, and what community colleges have done to stabilize their student learning and provide safety measures. What has been going on in the background is a serious case because many students aren’t aware of the things community colleges have done for them and often don’t wonder where all the benefits they receive come from.

           Like many institutions, community colleges have a fund for long-term financial crises called Emergency aid programs which helps students in their times of need. During covid, this has been proved effective. Covid has been the worst pandemic for colleges; with increased student enrollment, strategizing fund distribution has not been easy. COVID-19 has forced students of lower-income families to make significant compromises to achieve a postsecondary degree. Most of the time, this results in a lack of sleep, and there is various research that proves how lack of sleep affects not only students’ overall health growth but also their learning process.

           Community colleges are affordable, which means more enrollment from lower-income students; when COVID-19 hit, colleges forced students into online courses. Before COVID-19, community colleges had little to no investment in online classes; online learning requires a lot of pre-planning and many resources for students and teachers. Experienced teachers are also needed; although this could help, it can’t help in some cases. For example, many teachers had experience in teaching online courses before COVID-19, but inexperienced students led to significant grade point drops, “Shift to virtual instruction resulted in 6.7 percentage point decrease in course completion” (Castleman et al., 1); this also increased students withdrawal form courses; note that withdrawal on community colleges are not unlimited and this eventually backfires causing the student to finish the course or drop while it affects their grade point average(GPA).

           Although one can blame students for not putting in enough work to increase their grade points during online courses, the reason isn’t that simple. Most students during COVID-19 became adults who had responsibilities; this included having to take their relatives to hospitals often due to covid cases or Mental trauma from having to quarantine(complete isolation); students also suffered from a lack of Technologies related stuff; Most students required better Wi-Fi or a personal laptop to do their work in peace; this is due to the fact that most students had siblings and one computer at home wasn’t enough for all to share. Community colleges provided technology services to students in need, and 1 in 10 students at community colleges reported receiving financial assistance. Community colleges across the country also offer computer access to students in their campus library; many students stay after school and take tests or use the computer for their work; a library is a quiet place where students can focus in peace.

           With the sudden shift to Online learning, Evidence shows an increase in students’ depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues increasing during COVID. Reports also show delayed graduations, affecting many lower-income students with internships and jobs. The numbers are much higher than before COVID. Insecurities cause many mental health issues. For example, a better-fed student will most likely get a higher grade on an exam than a student who isn’t. For a long time, food insecurity has been a thing, but Covid has made it much worse than before, but community colleges are countering this problem.

           “Long Beach City College in California in 2019 provided hot breakfast for about 1,800 students across ten separate events” (Madeline St. Amour, 1). “San Antonio College, part of the Alamo Colleges District in Texas, provided nearly 89,000 pounds of food for 633 students (getting food for a total of 3,455 individuals” (Madeline St. Amour, 1). “Calhoun Community College in Alabama disbursed 26 emergency grants from March through September 2020, more than twice the amount they usually disbursed before the COVID-19 pandemic.” (Madeline St. Amour, 1).

           Some students are also insecure about their financial situation due to job loss. Students are less likely to give attention to their classes at home because they aren’t used to it and are often lazy; students often tend to oversleep upon learning that they don’t have to go to class in person and attend an online course. “Research to date on the efficacy of online versus in-person learning suggests that students tend to do far worse in online classes.” (Bird et al., 4). Not having to go to work might be a good opportunity for students. Research suggests that having lost jobs, students tend to have more free time; this allows for more time on their courses; this also helps students learn more about the world since the pandemic has everyone stuck at home. For example, many people of the younger generation and elderly are on TikTok; they are learning a lot by just watching short videos; were it not for covid, no one would have the time to do so.

           Overall, the pandemic has had many adverse effects on student learning and grade and some positive effects. Community colleges are doing what they can, and students are doing what they can. With the way Covid is looking, one can only hope for the world to be normalized again; or it probably won’t. All we can do is what’s best for us currently. All we can do is help by providing what we can to people in need. Many community colleges have fundraisers to help students because government emergency funds aren’t enough sometimes.     

                                                Works Cited:

Kim, Swan, and Donna Kessler-Eng. “Understanding the Challenges of Teaching Writing Online during the Pandemic at an Urban Community College.” HETS Online Journal, vol. 11, Spring 2021, pp. 138–65. Article,

 

“CUNY Plans Expansion of Mental Health Services to Address Escalating Need of Students Struggling with Effects of Pandemic.” CUNY Newswire, 16 Oct. 2020, https://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2020/10/16/cuny-plans-expansion-of-mental-health-services-to-address-escalating-need-of-students-struggling-with-effects-of-pandemic/.

 

“Community Colleges See Demand for Food Bank Services Swell.” Community Colleges See Demand for Food Bank Services Swell, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/07/community-colleges-see-demand-food-bank-services-swell.

 

Whatley, Melissa, and Heidi Fischer. “The International Student Experience at U.S. Community Colleges at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of International Students, vol. 12, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 42–60. Article

 

Castleman, Benjamin, and Gabrielle Lohner. “Negative impacts from the shift to online learning during the COVID-19 crisis: evidence from a statewide community college system.” EdWorkingPaper (Annenberg Institute at Brown University), no. 20-299. Providence: Annenberg Institute, Brown University, 2020. Online. Internet. 21 Apr 2022. . Available: https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai20-299.pdf.

 

Zottarelli, Lisa K., et al. “Basic needs initiatives at Texas community college Hispanic-serving institutions: Changes in service offerings during the Covid-19 pandemic.” Community College Journal of Research and Practice 46.1-2 (2022): 138-144.

 

“How Covid-19 Changed Students’ Plans for Community College in Fall 2021.” Community College Research Center, https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/easyblog/covid19-fall2021-community-college-plans.html.

 

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College Website Analysis

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Ranup Katwal

3/9/2022

Professor Weaver

English 1102-322

Summary

RMIT is a college for technology, design, and enterprise, being a top 250 university worldwide, their ideal student is someone who wants to make a “difference.”, and is passionate about learning. with more than 20+ different courses with more branches, RMIT seems promising for someone looking to get higher education. 

Strategies “purpose” form APATSARC, and imagining ideal readers from “Large Rhetorical Strategy” is used throughout the website.

Analysis

The website shows a few things, but the most attractive among them is “RMIT is a global university of technology, design, and enterprise” (RMIT – Home Page) this shows the purpose of the website, which is to look for ideal students and persons who are interested in what they have to offer. it also lists that it’s “top 250 universities worldwide” (RMIT – Home Page), and with over “97,000 students from 230+ different countries” (RMIT – Home Page), this uses the strategy “Imagining ideal readers”, readers don’t have to be overly experienced to understand the information provided by the website. A little below courses are listed well-designed user interfaces, this also uses one of the strategies listed above because it’s simple to look at and understand what each user interface is for, this helps looks for “ideal” students, who are looking for specific occupations they might be interested in learning about. The website also offers a “Kickstart 2022 with a range of student benefits” (RMIT – Home Page), “with dedicated social programs and more”(RMIT – Home Page), strategy purpose is being used here to convince you that their support team/new year student experience is good.

One of the things to notice is that the website overall doesn’t use that many words, no matter what button is clicked the information provided is simple and easy to read, so it can be said that the whole website is based around “imagining ideal readers” which is focused on just readers and not advanced readers meaning anyone can read the information without much thinking, also means that more people get persuaded since the website reaches out to any reader, not just advanced, this is also the use of strategy purpose. When clicking the study button,  a small text that talks about how the university offers “study online now and on-campus later” (RMIT – Study with us), narrows down to purpose, what does the author want? You and your money.

The university promises “experience you’ll never forget”(RMIT – Student Life), “help you make friends” (RMIT – Student Life), “feel at home” (RMIT – Student Life), “skills and knowledge to make you employable anywhere in the world”(RMIT – study experience), “practical training”, “courses delivered by experts at the top of their fields” (RMIT), and much more, what more can you ask for?  This seems like a place where a student can accumulate a lot of knowledge in the field they’re pursuing (purpose is used because it persuades the readers/convinces them that the university offers a lot to help them succeed/exceed their academic goals), not only locally but the website also convinces you globally, under the tab global opportunities, it talks about how “Studying overseas is an enriching and rewarding experience” (RMIT) although true, but what do they want? Your money, and for you to apply to their university. The university also claims how it can help build “global networks and boost career opportunities” (RMIT) and help land that dream job.

While browsing the website it states that the university is offering 10% off on tuition fees to anyone who isn’t able to come to “Australia due to border restrictions” (RMIT – Study with us), a coincidence? I think not, also uses strategy purpose, that’s because although they can transfer to college where they live the website convinces them to stay at their college because the tuition fees are reduced by 10%, 10% of $10 maybe $1 but 10% of $20,000 is  $2,000, and that’s a lot. RMIT also has study support to help students with “Peer mentoring” (RMIT – study-support), “One-on-one consultations” (RMIT – study-support), “24/7 study help with your assignments and course work” (RMIT study-support), and many more, this is obviously trying to get you to apply, strategy purpose is also being used here because their main purpose stays the same and that’s to get as many students as possible. The university also helps with health/mental health and emergency crisis, also convinces their university to be the best option.

 

Response

Would I go to this college? YES!!  I’d totally go there because, they offer so much, it almost feels like too good to be true, although I say I’d go, it would be unrealistic since it costs a lot of money and is so far away. Had that not been the problem, had I a big sum of money, and distance reduced I’d totally go.

On my values inventory, I chose confidence, and curiosity, which looking back fits my response perfectly because I’m confident that I’d go to the university if it weren’t for the fact, big distance, and lack of money. As for curiosity although I don’t talk often, I’m quite curious, I’d be more than happy to experience if that university lives up to its name. The university offers just too much for it to be perfect. One of the things I’m extremely curious about is “24/7 study help with your assignments” (RMIT), if you think about it there’s no way that their service is that good right? Imagine you wake up at 3-4 am and go to the help section, there isn’t a 100% guaranteed that someone’s there to help is there. This sounds way too good to be true, so if I were to go to this university, I’d probably be curious and test if their service is as good as they claim it to be.

Works Cited

RMIT. “Study Support.” RMIT University, https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/support-services/study-support.

https://www.rmit.edu.au/

 

Madison Przybylski

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I didn’t get to Talk with Madison That much, so the information I’m about to share won’t be much.

Madison is a First Generation College Student from her family, although her dad went to college to study in the medical fields, he had to drop out due to lack of financial aid, this was the case for many people in the previous generation, unlike us who are given education for basically free, only wealthy would have a chance at college, Growing up as a first-generation college student isn’t always easy since there is a lack of passive guidance(your parents), this, however, can be countered if you talk to people and ask for help, but Madison was an introvert, during her early academics, Madison didn’t reach out for help, she didn’t thrive for more than what was needed to pass the class(someone prusing education shouldn’t be doing this), Madison later came to the realization after entering college, that a person must give it all they have in order to succeded in learning, Madison currently works, and goes to college at the same time, she may not have much time to study but there’s a saying that “your biggest disadvantage is your biggest advantage”, i hope she can grow academically, and use what she has learned as a student to teach her future students, since she’s pursing education major.

To sum it up,  When evaluating a person’s true academic self we must look at their growth over time, instead of the time they’ve spent in academics, in madison’s case her academic self only really grew after coming to college, since her k-12 academics were spent without any real goal for academics(she didn’t have a passion to learn more), Evaluation of academic self is different for different people, for example, a prodigy might have an academic growth from pre-k all the up to higher education(Ph.D.) which a normal person would have a graph that rarely goes up, in most cases it goes up until k-12 then goes down exponentially starting from college, this is due to the fact that students in lower education(k-12) aren’t taught meta-cognition, well not in the true sense(there’re only taught the first level which is to remember).