Region B Fall Quarter 2020 Update

By Nancy Harris, Region B Coordinator

Region B consists of Bellevue College, Cascadia College, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, Renton Technical College, North Seattle, South Seattle, Seattle Central, & Seattle College District

Bellevue College:

In August, September & October Bellevue College doubled their faculty, staff, and student trainings!

The eLearning department has been training on Zoom and answering community questions. They provided the training for all the new software rolling out for faculty, had 5 new tools since March – Honorlock, Lockdown Browser, Lockdown Monitor, Gradecsope – and they shifted to SimCheck. Updates include both Zoom & Canvas, and Microsoft Teams was rolled out. A new cohort of faculty were trained on Zoom, Panopto and Canvas. It’s been busy!

In short, training and the use of multiple tools as well as taking the extra precautionary steps needed for those working on campus, and balancing working at home with family at home has been an adjustment for everyone at Bellevue College. 

We have had several professional development courses, well-being sessions and opportunities to be involved on campus offered to classified employees. Prioritizing and doing more with less is a constant element to our work now.

Renton Technical College

Like colleges, RTC classified staff are working from home and observing the state-mandated furlough leave program. We are learning lots of new technology, and adapting to weekly (and sometimes, daily) Zoom check-in meetings. About 2 weeks ago, some of us learned how to design a Zoom meeting with breakout rooms. Every day includes something new. On-boarding new employees virtually presents its own challenges. Overall, most classified staff are adapting and thriving working in the electronic environment. 

Suggested future trainings: Zoom Meetings, MS Teams Meetings, Canvas meeting spaces, Adobe Sign for electronic signatures. 

Seattle Central College

ctcLink training is nearing completion (by November 20th). Work on our upcoming application process for one of our programs and ensuring the students have proper credentials so they are eligible to attend their clinical portions of their program has been a major portion of Classified work in certain departments.

South Seattle

Learning new technologies and resources was expected during this uncertain work environment, but some Classified Staff also have many expectations for work, having difficulty assessing the outcomes because the virtual work space is not always conducive for clear communications or direction from others. We are learning not to take things personally, because we are all under such a tremendous pressure.

We all need to pay attention to our emotional and mental health so when this is over, we can hug and celebrate the reunion with our friends and colleagues.