Staff relocates, classes continue and students persist as communities recover in Benton County
–By Julie Zimmer, freelance writer
The June 11 flood that brought nearly a foot and a half of water crashing into Kirkwood Community College’s Vinton site, and the transition into a temporary location was a “wild ride” according to Center Director Mindy Thornton, but she said great community partners, patient students and a dedicated Kirkwood staff had the center up and running in a temporary location in a matter of days.
The Kirkwood Vinton Center was evacuated June 9 and reopened in its temporary location June 23. Classrooms, network and phone connections, students and staff are operating from new headquarters in the Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School media center at 212 West 15th Street in Vinton.
Programs relocated to the middle school include the equivalent of three classrooms, the high school completion program and Promise Jobs. Student advising and fall registration will be handled from the temporary site, but Thornton expects classes to be back in the Vinton Center location by the start of fall semester Aug. 20.
Thornton said most of the 45 or 50 Vinton students enrolled in the summer sessions were able to catch up on missed classes even before distance learning classrooms went “live” again.
Before the Kirkwood network was running at the temporary site, classes were videotaped and hand delivered from the Cedar Rapids main campus to keep Vinton Center students progressing. Students could watch DVD versions on a computer at the center or check out VHS tapes to take home. Within days, students could access the Video On Demand Network, which allowed students to watch the missed class within fifteen minutes of its completion. Within one week, college and local school district IT staff re-established Kirkwood’s distance learning network connections, integrating one-way and two-way interactive classes to the temporary center. Fortunately the middle school building, formerly the district’s high school, still houses an Iowa Communications Network (ICN) classroom with two-way audio video connections adjoining the media center.
Kirkwood called on ICN help from Des Moines for special equipment to get the network on two more televisions in the spacious media center, enabling one-way broadcasts of classes “live” from campus or other centers.
The system is occasionally noisy in the shared space and instructors can’t see or hear the students from the makeshift Vinton center, but Thornton said the students have been very patient.
She also credits main campus faculty and staff for being supportive and innovative. Students can literally call in questions during class by telephone to KTS (Kirkwood Television Services) at the main campus. Master Control staff field the calls and hand-carry mobile phones directly to instructors as the class is underway so students get their questions answered on the spot.
Thornton couldn’t have imagined the changes in store when the Cedar River jumped its banks June 9.
“That first Monday night all of our computers and electronic equipment was loaded into a semi and taken to the main campus for storage,” said Thornton. We weren’t sure how much to move because previous flood waters had not reached our building. This time the projections kept changing, so we weren’t sure what to expect. When the flood waters reached us, the response from our campus and local community was far beyond our expectations, as well.”
Thornton said the list of people they will thank is long.
“We have had remarkable, incredible support. We can’t say thank-you enough to local superintendent Randy Braden and middle school principal Mike Timmermans, and their staff who have treated us as very special guests in their building. Additionally, the Kirkwood campus community and the number of students who called or stopped by to check on us were remarkable. We also appreciate community members who offered to help even while the water was rising. Mayor John Watson, City Manager Andy Lent and people like Frank VanSteenhuyse, who had been working all over the city all day long, showed up and asked what they could do to help Kirkwood. These are just a few of the many examples reminding us why being part of this community is so great. It reminds us that we are the community’s college.”
Pat Gardner shares Thornton’s appreciation. “We heard from a recent graduate of the nursing program who said, ‘Let me know what I can do to help you, you’ve done so much for me.’ This woman has a full-time job at Mercy Hospital and the basement and first floor of her own home were under water but she offered to help us,” Gardner said.
Thornton expects to be in the renovated facility on Third Street before classes begin this August. She says the silver lining may be a fresh outlook and reorganization.
“When students come back the site will look totally different. We lost some things, we are doing without some things in our temporary location that we once took for granted, but we’re reminded that every single thing we do have wouldn’t be here without these great community partners and a supportive campus.
“Pat, Rachel, Sue, Meg, Art and I are able to still focus on meeting the needs of our students locally because of the work that many others are completing every single day at our flooded center to make it safe and clean for our return. It is definitely a team approach.”