Kodiak College began its fall semester on Monday. KMXT spoke to Jacelyn Keys, Director of Kodiak College, to discuss the new semester and the college’s plans to deal with COVID.
According to Keys, services at the college are much easier to access than they were last semester.
“So our president at the University of Alaska statewide level, has mandated that our campuses be open for students. The key buildings that we have courses in are unlocked for student access. They can drop in for services, which is significantly different than what we did last year. Last year, we had students needing to make appointments for services. And as you can imagine, college can be intimidating enough without needing to make an appointment to see an advisor or to get help at the Learning Center,” Keys said.
COVID-19 is up and walking in Kodiak, as evidenced by recent Emergency Operations Center reports. Keys says that while the statewide mandate has University of Alaska campuses open, she is given the ability to respond to the local situation.
“As the director, I’m following what statewide does as well as keeping an eye on what our local EOC does, so that I can respond in a way that best takes care of our faculty, our staff, our students, and the families of the faculty, staff, and students- recognizing that kids under the age of 12 don’t have an opportunity to get vaccinated,” Keys said.
According to Keys, facemasks are required on campus. The campus is not open to the general public at present, but facilities such as the computer labs or library are open to students.