Students from the colleges of Nursing (CON) and Medicine (COM) and their parents and the colleges’ faculty members gathered in a townhall meeting held via Zoom on June 8, 2021 to discuss and clarify issues on the limited face-to-face classes for medical courses that was planned to start in August.
Dr. Celina Gellada, the Vice President for Medical and Allied Sciences recognized the COM and CON vital in providing manpower support during this pandemic. Dr. Gellada believes that the University has been “successful” in implementing flexible learning, but there are courses best delivered face-to-face. She informed the stakeholders, as of writing of this article, that the manual for policies and guidelines on the limited face-to-face classes has been drafted and is with the WVSU Board of Regents, awaiting for approval.
WVSU is actively preparing for the limited face to face to ensure that students are equipped with practical knowledge and skills. Dr. Joselito Villaruz, University President of WVSU emphasized that even if the limited face to face will be permitted, “We cannot let our guards down”. He said that there are risks during the face to face however, “This is a necessary component of the curriculum. Authentic assessments would be very challenging in an online mode.”
Mr. Ian Van Sumagaysay , Director of the WVSU Disaster Risk Reduction Management , took the chance to inform those in the meeting about preparations for the limited face to face classes. Proper markings of and in the buildings were made, seats of 1.5meters apart were prepared, screen guards for lecturers and professors, retrofitting of classrooms, separate entrance and exit gates, temperature check and QR Code scanning, mobility simulations, series of biosafety lectures, and many more. He said, “For communal areas, only 2 hours is allotted as maximum stay. As for the library, they can borrow books and upon return, they have to leave them in a drop box outside their respective learning resource centers for disinfection purposes.”
The University has also set up isolation rooms, just in case, there will be cases. Restrooms will only allow two people at a time. Classrooms were retrofitted for ease of implementation of physical distancing.
Dr. Villaruz reminded the audience, “There will always be risks, that’s why we would like the students to practice isolation and self quarantine at home. For students who have high risk members in their families, this is not mandatory. Students can be given options, such as the online modality.” -/CILPI