AN INTERVIEW WITH LISA SKARI’S PREDICTION ON THE FUTURE OF MHCC

In a time of much uncertainty, this school year has been vastly different from previous years. The new conditions, under which we take classes and participate in any school functions we are still able to hold, bring many questions and concerns. There are queries about MHCC enrollment; the well-being of students, faculty, and staff; and what steps the college is taking to aid students and others in this time, to name a few.

Recently, The Advocate was able to interview with Mt. Hood President Lisa Skari, providing much insight into the college’s state of affairs, how its leadership is working together to get all through this storm, and what might lie ahead.

While not everything she relayed could be called wonderful news, there is hope to be found.

Skari first addressed the question of how the college has responded to COVID-19; she said the college has responded well, considering that this is an unprecedented situation.

Declining enrollment presents a different challenge. According to Skari, “Our numbers, we’re looking about 20 percent down” compared to this time in 2019. This is including every category of enrollment that MHCC offers – credit, non-credit, apprenticeship, and dual enrollment. She described this drop as being “significantly more than where we were pre-COVID.”

FINANCIAL IMPACT

While the decline is substantial, the president indicated that MHCC will be able to manage, financially, provided this drop doesn’t continue into Spring Term. If it does, things could be tricky.

Skari said the enrollment decrease has impacted Mt. Hood’s already challenged finances, adding roughly a half-million dollars to its operating budget deficit. While this isn’t a small number, there have been efforts to mitigate this loss, she said. For example, during the summer the (administrative) management team members due for salary increases gave them up to help improve the situation. All the classified (mostly nonteaching) staff and management took furlough days during summer as another means to reduce the damage.

Other critical funding sources, like the Oregon state budget, have not been affected thus far, Skari said.

Certainly, MHCC does not find itself alone among colleges struggling in this situation.

Skari mentioned that the U.S. Census Bureau put out a “pulse survey” for the week ending Sept. 28 that had several questions. One asked adults whether they had changed or canceled their post-secondary plans this year. And of those Oregon residents responding, 89% had changed or canceled their post-secondary plans, she said.

Not only was that a high percentage, it was the highest in the country, Skari noted.

ABLE TO ADAPT

While enrollment is suffering, Mt. Hood still has ongoing classes. The format is an interesting story, however.

Throughout the past summer break, it seemed a foregone conclusion that MHCC’s Fall Term would be entirely online, as was last Spring Term. Then the college decided to determine the format on a program-by-program basis, a bit of a surprise.

Asked about the change, Skari explained the reason for this was that when COVID first hit Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown gave an executive order for all residents to stay at home, whether for working or learning. This order extended through the end of spring, but later Brown came out with a new order that allowed for school re-openings, provided certain guidelines were followed.

This Fall Term, Mt. Hood courses are mostly online-only, with a few programs holding, partially, in-person classes. It will remain this way through Winter Term, but what about Spring Term? Skari was asked.

Citing the overall community COVID rates, she said, “If things don’t change drastically … we will continue on where we are.” Ultimately what it boils down to is that, for the school to return to in-person classes, there would have to be either a widespread, effective vaccine or herd immunity from the virus.

Once one of those things is established, Mt. Hood can move to “Level 3 re-opening,” Skari said.

Meantime, with most courses offered online-only, internet access and quality becomes much more important. Skari was asked about what the college is doing to help current students without adequate resources. (Last spring, the MHCC Foundation helped to distribute loaner laptops and gift cards to affected students.) Mt. Hood is now currently in negotiations to set up internet hotspots that students could access on campus, in the parking lots, for example.

Skari added, “It’s more complicated than just putting up a hotspot in the parking lot.”

She indicated that since COVID hit, the presidents of the region’s community colleges have been meeting weekly to continually discuss the matter and any updates, in trying to find the best ways to maintain operations and help students. Four-year universities are a different group, but there has been a fair deal of sharing of information between community colleges and universities, she noted.

LONG-TERM IMPACT?

Given the significant impact of COVID, the question was put to Skari how the virus could affect the college, long-term. For instance, could MHCC move to a fully online format as a regular means of operations? She was able to shine a glimmer of hope regarding this matter, for those wishing for a return to “normal” classes.

“I don’t see us as a community college ever being 100 percent online… based on the programs we offer and the students we serve,” Skari said. “There is clearly a desire for in-person connection…education is actually kind of a social endeavor now.”

She went on to discuss how some students learn better when they are with their peers and instructors. As far as online courses, she foresees online options that are more expansive than what is now offered.

Ultimately, Skari said she sees Mt. Hood “being some sort of hybrid into the future, just based on who we are and what we do.”

The upshot from all this is that – while certainly COVID is nothing to cough at – Mt. Hood can pull through this, with perseverance and teamwork, its president believes.