Despite the COVID-19 pandemic forcing an abrupt switch to online classes, Northwest College saw little impact to its retention rates.

At the board of trustees meeting this month, which was held via teleconference, NWC President Stefani Hicswa reported that only 17 students completely withdrew from the college in the spring semester. Of those, three were enrolled in classes that started later in the semester, and of the other 14, only three were enrolled full time.

“I’m really proud of what our faculty and staff have done to keep our students retained and finish their degree,” Hicswa said.

The college closed its campus to the public over spring break in March and transitioned to online classes in a short two-week timeframe.

Preliminary figures show completion rates were not as good as last year, when NWC had some of the highest completion rates in the
nation for institutions of its kind. However, Hicswa said the preliminary rates do not show a precipitous drop after the campus closure; she said they’ll know more when final figures are available.

With so many unknowns, Northwest College has no definite plans for reopening in the fall semester, but almost all summer classes will be conducted online.

There are some portions of Allied Health classes that will have limited face-to-face contact, with guidance from county health officials, Hicswa said.

The college is also considering how it might resume offering its community education and non-degree courses, such as plumbing, possibly restricting the classes to no more than 10 people in the classroom at once.

As for the fall semester, Hicswa said it was difficult to provide any specific plans as of the May 11 meeting. College officials are looking at what other institutions are doing, and waiting for guidance from public health officials on the best way to proceed. It’s expected at least some accommodations for the COVID-19 pandemic will continue into the fall, Hicswa said.

She said the college’s pandemic response team is developing different scenarios for how the fall semester might proceed and, when they do begin opening campus, it would be done in three phases, as laid out in federal guidelines.

Exactly what would happen during each of the phases, the NWC president explained, is difficult to lay out.

“It’s quite laborious and detailed to look at all contingencies and all involved,” she said.

The college might hold hybrid classes with some instruction online and some in-person. It’s possible they could split face-to-face instruction, having groups of students enrolled in the class come on different days, to limit the number of students in the classroom at once.

Hicswa said she’s concerned with providing too many details on speculative plans, which will later need to be revisited as more information becomes available. That could cause problems for students who might base decisions on early speculation.

“We’ll see. We’ll let you know more as we know more,” she told the board.

For instance, since the board’s May 11 meeting, the State of Wyoming has boosted the cap on gatherings from 10 to 25 people.

The college campus is currently closed through the end of May. Employee telework, event cancellations and modifications, travel restrictions, and social distancing practices are continuing until further notice.

“Expect the transition to be gradual and to include incremental steps,” Hicswa said in an April 30 announcement. “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”