Page 47 - BusinessWest March 3, 2021

One Year Later
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yourself. Whether it’s morning exercise or carving out parameters for when you will or will not be available — people are looking for you to role-model that.
Stelzer: The key word for me is empathy. All of us have had to really dig deep for the non-traditional ways of providing support — all kinds of support — to our people and managing and being empathetic to the extent that you can and still run your business. It’s critically important — people recognize fake really quick, so you’ve got to be genuine, you’ve got to be honest with them, you’ve got to tell them how it is. And I agree with Mary-Beth — you have to take care of yourself. We’ve all walked the halls of our houses and condos from 2 in the morning to 4 in the morn- ing trying to figure out the next move. We’ve all been there.
Senecal: I agree with Paul; empathy is a great word to describe the difference between managing now and managing pre-COVID. We’re all living this horror, so to speak, and realizing that we all have different issues in our lives, between family members getting sick, or trying to work at home with kids at home
Upper Hand
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politics, government, and public policy to health and medicine, education, work-life balance, business, entertainment, culture, industry, and science. When Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, steps back, we can be sure profound change is in the air.
Far more people have seats at the table. We talked for so long, but nothing changed. Then, suddenly, we became keenly aware of those who had long been invisible to us. We raised our hands and called them ‘heroes’ but never raised their wages. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve finally figured out that when everyone has a seat, we have better healthcare, better jobs, stronger families, and happier communities. Could it possibly be that it took a painful pandemic to make more room at the table?
Everything is under a microscope. Again, coun-
Literacy
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was great,” said Geraldine de Berly, vice president of Academic Affairs at STCC. “Since the summer, STCC invested in tools and training to assist faculty in developing the best truly online experience possible, including the hiring of a third instructional designer. Today, all online instruction occurs in a single plat- form, supplemented by class discussions using tools such as Zoom.”
The college anticipates spending nearly $800,000 through May 2021 helping faculty develop hundreds of online classes and labs, de Berly said. Today, more than 80% of the credits are offered online, a jump from 12% prior to the pandemic. Over the coming year, STCC also expects to expand its online-only options in addition to its existing in-person and hybrid degree programs.
STCC English Professor Denise “Daisy” Flaim has years of experience teaching students on campus in classrooms, so converting to the online experience was a big adjustment. But she worked closely with the online team at STCC to prepare for the transition, and now feels confident.
“We’re learning technology, just as the students are
trying to do schoolwork, with technology issues ... pre-pandemic, we glossed over these things. During the pandemic, this home life is hugely important in people’s lives. I’ve come to listen more, but empathy is the word that comes to light; I’m trying to under- stand how to manage people.
Johnson: I would add another word in there, and that’s humanity. I’ve come to realize the importance of helping us all understand that we’re part of some- thing bigger than ourselves. Mary-Beth spoke earlier about how, among the college and university presi- dents, it has been the most collaborative environ- ment that she’s ever seen; I’ve been in the Common- wealth for 11 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this, either. As CEOs, we tend to think that we’re at the center of the universe, but we’re not; we’re only as good as the people around us. And I understand what Mary-Beth means when she talks about patience. I generally don’t have much of an impacting gene, but it has developed since March of last year in ways I couldn’t have imagined.
Bitsoli: I’ve recognized just how precious life is, and I’m really stopping and forcing myself to be in the moment, to listen and engage, and slow down.
ter-intuitive but nevertheless true: the number of applications for fall 2021 at the University of Cali- fornia are breaking all records. It’s happening at the same moment when millions of young Americans are questioning the value of a college education, particu- larly if it will take decades to free themselves from the sobering shackles of student debt. Those who went before them, the Millennials, are dogged in determin- ing their own way in the world. Don’t be surprised. The lens of the microscope may never rest.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. There are dangers in the tension-filled, stressful times in which we find our- selves. Someone has aptly described it as “hitting the pandemic wall,” and it’s felt at home and at work. It’s when we reach out for relief so we can get our lives on a better path. Simple, quick, and easy answers are what sell in turbulent times: “buy this or do that, and your problems vanish, and your dreams come true.”
learning technology,” Flaim said.
Daniel Misco, an STCC alumnus and faculty
member in the Digital Media Production program, said he’s well-versed in the online teaching world. Today, he teaches most of his classes online, but misses the face-to-face interactions with students in a classroom.
“I considered myself a face-to-face instructor,” Misco said. “I always excelled in the classroom. I liked being there with students to build a rapport with them.”
The adjustment to online learning can be chal- lenging for some students, but Misco said faculty try to do all they can to help.
STCC student Kimberly Quiñonez, who is studying social work, expressed gratitude for the support from faculty over the past year.
“My experience as an online learner has really been amazing, although there were times I felt like quitting,” she said. “During those times, my profes- sors would reach out and check in with the class. In the very beginning, I must admit that it was quite challenging transferring from an actual classroom to
But just as important is demonstrating that to my management team so that I’m also walking the talk in terms of saying to them, ‘life is precious; let’s have a better way of approaching our work life and recog- nize that life is very, very short and we have to respect and really take care of each other as colleagues.’
Rymarski: Patience, empathy, and flexibility are all words that come to mind. But also fairness. From the legal perspective, one of things that’s important as employers and managers is that we want to have a fair playing field, or as fair a playing field as we can. What you may have to do for one might be differ- ent than what you have to do for another, but there needs to some semblance of not only empathy, but also fairness and some structure to keep the organi- zation together so that employees don’t become dis- gruntled with one another.
Bitsoli: Not only has this made me a better man- ager, it has made me a better person, and I think oth- ers on this panel would agree. I think I learned a lot about myself and about society, and, again, about the value of life. As a society, there are quite a few of us who have reflected in this way, and we’re better people overall.
We’re too resilient to do that to ourselves.
Bottom Line
Now, go back to where we started, the original question: “Who will have the upper hand after the pandemic: employers or employees?
All this leads to the final question. Through the pandemic frenzy, who will come out ahead, the work- ers or employers? The way it looks at the moment, it just may be the workers. But, as we all know, things can change. u
John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategy consultant and business writer. He is the creator of Magnet Marketing and publishes a free monthly e-bulletin, “No Nonsense Marketing & Sales Ideas”; [email protected]; johnrgraham.com
a computer. The classroom brought security to most students because questions were answered immedi- ately. With online learning, you may have to wait for a response through e-mail.”
Aminah Bergeron, a mechanical engineering tech- nology student at STCC, said she found benefits to online learning, noting she has “gotten the hang of it” after a year of studying from home.
“It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. It was for sure different, but a ‘good’ different,” she said. “I didn’t have to worry about getting ready, or making sure my house doors are locked, or even thinking in the back of my head, ‘did I leave the faucet running?’ I just had to open my laptop and start my schoolwork, whether at my own pace or scheduled Zoom meet- ings. I also had much more time to research and not worry about calculating the time I’d lose on commut- ing from one location to another.”
STCC will return to face-to-face, on-campus instruction when it’s safe to do so, de Berly said, but will continue to offer online options and apply digital tools to enhance the classroom experience. u
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MARCH 3, 2021 47
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