Muskegon Sun

Bart Daig, president of Baker College, discussed the college's plans for the fall 2020 semester, offering both in-person and online classes, on "The Frank Beckmann Show."

Because Baker College isn't a "suitcase college," that brings down the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak on campus. This has allowed the college to offer both in-person and online classes. 

"We have put a portion of courses virtually, but we also -- with a lot of the health care programs, engineering and culinary programs, there's a lot of labs and hands-on activities that they need to do in the classroom. So those courses are on campus, and we're doing it successfully so far," Daig said on the radio program.

Programs like culinary still require in-person education, because students are working in kitchens about six hours a day, running a restaurant for credit and working with other students and faculty. In the two weeks Baker College has been open for the fall semester, everything has been running smoothly. 

Even with the coronavirus, Daig said there hasn't been much change in hands-on curriculum with other programs and majors. 

"We have not seen a change in the demand for particular programs," Daig said on the radio show. "This shift in students, it's been different as they want to really understand, what are my options as far as attending classes? Because everybody has a different comfort level with attending on campus or would rather attend virtually. And what can they do? What is the college's experience and expertise in delivering courses at a distance virtually and online? And you hear a lot of questions from prospective students in that area in particular."

For students attending in-person classes, the six Baker College campuses across the state are implementing standard protocols to keep everyone safe and healthy. 

Each student attending in-person classes must complete a health care checklist before attending classes each day. Temperatures are taken before anyone enters a building, and all classrooms are set up to make sure everyone is properly distanced from each other.

"Again, you do have some exceptions with labs, particularly you're doing nursing perhaps, or other -- physical therapy, occupational therapy, those types of labs, those are hands-on and students are practicing on each other," Daig said on the radio show. "So there's still some contact with those students, but they're wearing all the proper PPE and following all that specific protocol."

With the semester already started, students can no longer register to take fall semester courses, but there is a second wave of online classes starting in October that students can still register for, Daig said. These courses are eight weeks long, and there has been an increased interest in them.