The COVID-19 pandemic required faculty and staff to make adjustments to student learning experiences and support.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit in full-force in March 2020, many schools and universities quickly adapted their courses and curriculum to online formats. Despite the challenges created by the pandemic, Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMUoHP) readily adapted to continue providing support to students and a first-class education.
From rescheduling and restructuring on-campus lab courses to moving entire courses online to finding ways to support our students who were working on the front lines of healthcare, including New York City, RMUoHP faculty stepped up to the challenge. When on-campus experiences for limited-residency programs were canceled, faculty transitioned their courses to 100% online delivery. To increase touchpoints and communication with students amidst less face-to-face contact and the challenges brought on by the pandemic, faculty worked with students to provide weekly “town hall” sessions, additional office hours, and personal phone/web conferencing check-ins. Residential programs worked endlessly to ensure clinical opportunities occurred, on-campus courses were shifted online, and in-person labs were done online or in-person with proper precautions in place–all within a very short timeline.
In addition to the challenges facing faculty in their own classrooms and programs, RMUoHP faculty were not exempt from the professional and personal struggles brought on by the pandemic. Faculty members had to teach while faced with students or themselves in quarantine, becoming ill, caring for their own family members, and others. However, RMUoHP faculty responded with empathy and unconditional support.
In a time when the COVID-19 climate would be an easy time for student satisfaction with courses and instructors to be less than satisfactory, both Spring and Summer 2020 Instructor and Course Evaluation scores increased from previous years’ scores. There were significant score increases from Spring 2019 (average rating of 4.43) to Spring 2020 (average rating of 4.51), as well as Summer 2019 (average rating of 4.41) to Summer 2020 (average rating of 4.57).
The student survey data gathered further demonstrated the dedication and empathy the RMUoHP faculty provided students during these unprecedented times. With the hard work and countless hours of dedication RMUoHP faculty invested in students, the healthcare industry will gain excellent professionals as clinicians, educators, leaders, and scholars upon their graduation.
— Emily Dykstra, PhD, Director of Institutional Research at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions
