With the reopening of colleges and universities upon us, last Friday’s Up Close guest gave us a sneak peek at how CMC handled the initial shutdown, and how they look forward to the fall semester. Reporter Cassidy Zimarik has the recap…
As educational institutions around the country prepare to reopen, Copper Mountain College Superintendent and President Dr. Darren Otten joined Gary Daigneault on the Z107.7 Up Close Show to discuss reopening and the “new normal.” First a look at last spring…
“Well I will say that our withdrawals, and that’s what we specifically track, was definitely higher than normal years.”
Copper Mountain College Superintendent and President Dr. Darren Otten said the transition online resulted in a huge jump from CMC’s original online offerings.
“So pre-pandemic, approximately 20 percent of our sections were offered online… post-pandemic 98 percent, 99 percent of our courses converted to distance education minus a few laboratories that we had to make up.”
Even with the changes to the college, Otten remained optimistic about enrollment looking towards the fall.
“So, for our summer session in particular, were up by about 4 percent for the summer. As we look towards the fall, our enrollments are definitely down, although we are not as far down as many of the regional colleges.”
As for the future of CMC, expect this new normal to stick around.
“It feels that we are at least into the new normal, and that new normal is going to be here for a little while.”
For more on CMC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the opportunities they have to grow and continue to serve the community, you can listen to the entire episode of the Up Close Show on the Z107.7 Podcast Page.
