Advice from the Front Line: What We Can Learn about COVID-19 from Colleges in Washington

Podcast March 31, 2020

With COVID-19 impacting community colleges, Interact CEO Dr. Pamela Cox-Otto brought together two marketing and public relations specialists who are on the leading edge of community colleges affected by the current situation in the state of Washington. Kelly Green, chief community relations officer at South Puget Sound Community College and Katherine Schiffner, director of public relations at Everett Community College shared their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and discussed how they have handled the changes to their respective colleges.

The discussion covered:

  • How they have dealt with news of local cases in their communities and the overwhelming attention of outside media sources
  • How they have dealt with new concerns brought about by COVID-19 and how they have learned from other institutions
  • How they adapted and implemented plans to deal with emergency communications and communicate with local governmental authorities and services
  • How their respective colleges have handled the challenge of shifting in-person classes to online, what has been done to accommodate programs that could not easily be adapted, and how they have handled requests for resources necessary for faculty and students to participate in online classes
  • How they are planning for the delay or cancellation of other in-person events, such as courses with mandatory labs or commencement ceremonies

COVID-19 Resources from South Puget Sound Community College and Everett Community College.

  • Emergency Class Plan – South Puget Sound Community College
    SPSCC’s VIP sent to faculty a week or so before everything “hit.” This was a good trigger for them to start thinking about prep work.

  • Communication Templates – South Puget Sound Community College
    SPSCC did resort to these templates and are continuing to update them in anticipation of future changes.

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