To: FCC Administration
From: Mallory Jones
cc: FCC Faculty, FCC Trustees
Date: June 7, 2021
RE: Distance Learning Transition
Good morning,
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on all facets of society, and it has been especially hard on both Primary schools and Higher Education institutions such as FCC. Throughout the United States, both two-year and four-year colleges have been forced to suspend their in-person classes and transition to Virtual Learning where possible to meet COVID restrictions. To protect our students and faculty, and help slow the spread of COVID, FCC needs to follow suit.
As part of a graduate project, a team from the University of Phoenix led by Dominique Pompey has prepared a recommendation for the organizational change process FCC will undergo to prepare our institution for virtual learning. Pompey and her team detailed strategies for gaining support from employees and shared diagnoses of the issues faced, as well as methods of tracking continuous improvement.
Transitioning to a fully virtual environment will have a large impact on FCC’s operations, and will require the following changes:
- Faculty and staff will transition to work-from-home (WFH). This will require FCC to either furnish the necessary hardware for students, faculty and staff that don’t already own a personal computer or have the appropriate Internet access or assist them in acquiring the resources they need.
- Expanding the school’s existing Distance Learning program to accommodate as many programs as possible that are not already part of the DL environment. This will require expanding the responsibilities of FCC’s Distance Learning Director and possibly expanding her staff.
- Expanding the responsibilities of FCC’s IT department. Although they will also WFH as much as possible, increasing DL will increase demand for the Help Desk, so their staff should be adjusted accordingly.
- Given that programs such as Welding and Commercial Driver training (CDL) cannot be taught in the virtual environment, accommodations must be made for the students and faculty of those programs.
- Given that the physical campus will be closed for the duration, on-site staff will be reduced to Maintenance, Security, and essential IT personnel only.
These changes should be implemented as soon as possible, and mandatory campus closure will certainly have an impact. For the remainder of this semester, faculty and staff should begin WFH. Coursework should be distributed and submitted via email if necessary. FCC should begin a phased implementation of virtual learning adjustments as soon as possible, with full completion by Fall semester.
Finally, FCC needs to take steps to ensure buy-in and stakeholder engagement for the change process. Pompey and her team recommend the following strategies to achieve these goals: Find ways to overcome possible resistance, create commitment, offer incentives, and address teams. (Pompey, Brooks, Cortez, Jones, & Dublin, 2021)
References
Cawsey, T., Desca, G., & Ingols, C. (2016). Organizational Change. Sage.
Pompey, D., Brooks, E., Cortez, J., Jones, M., & Dublin, K. (2021). Organizational Change Process. Phoenix, Arizona: University of Phoenix.
Spector, B. (2013). Implementing Organizational Change: Theory into Practice, 3e. Pearson.
Mallory Jones 