July 18, 2025
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Back to school

SWCC discusses plan for face-to-face summer courses

By DUSTIN MAEDER

Expansion of Southwestern Community College's ag-site has finished construction. The project began during the summer of 2019, and added two classrooms, a lab-style room, a student lounge, a mudroom and two faculty offices to the facility. (CNA photo)

Southwestern Community College Board of Trustees were updated on the institution’s response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic during its regular board meeting Tuesday night via virtual means.

“As we continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation, we’ve made some adjustments to the summer 2020 schedules,” said Lindsay Stoaks, vice president of instruction at SWCC.

To ensure health and safety of students, faculty and staff, SWCC’s summer face-to-face courses began May 11 and will be delivered through May 15. On May 18, students enrolled in career and technical education courses, as well as a microbiology course with lab, will return to campus in individual or small groups following social distancing measures.

Additionally, the nursing program, which is SWCC’s largest CTE program, has approximately 40 students enrolled in registered nursing courses for the summer. Those courses are being offered synchronously in an online delivery format through June 5. Students will then complete clinical at area hospitals, as well as simulations in small-groups on campus, starting June 8, and will conclude by June 18. Registered nursing students will be required to return to the campus in small groups the last week of June to complete the API Comprehensive Review.

“In an effort to safely return our faculty and small groups of students back to campus, the college is working closely with public health, and implementing many COVID-19 mitigation strategies to minimize as many health risks as possible,” said Stoaks.

In other SWCC board news, the board:

• unanimously approved the final step in the ongoing Industrial New Jobs Training Agreements with ZFS Creston, Red Oak Fabrications and Weaver Meats of Afton.

• unanimously approved the resignation of music instructor Lucas Mattson, effective at the end of his contract. Mattson was praised by the board for being an ‘important’ part of the music department, and has recently relocated, deciding to step away from the program.

• unanimously approved increasing tuition and fees for the fall semester. The new prices per credit hour will be $197 for residents and $204 for non-residents, an increase of $7 per credit hour. Other programs will also be experiencing increases in cost, due to rising costs of providing the courses.

• shared the completion of construction work on the ag site expansion project.