Warren County College obviously wasn’t planning for a pandemic, but in many ways in the past year it had set in motion preparations that would be very helpful in such an instance. 

The college, with campuses in Washington Township and Phillipsburg, had been bulking up its online course offerings and most importantly, perhaps, moved to online books and supporting materials with its agreement with the company, Cengage. With COVID-19 gripping not only the region, but the country, WCC has taken its online instruction a step further, with all classes now being remotely taught. 

“The transition was probably a lot easier for us than other colleges,” said Dr. Will Austin, President of WCC. “We already had online teaching tools in place, as well as a strong online program.”

Dr. Austin officially announced this week that WCC will not hold any classes at either of its campuses for the rest of the semester, and that commencement will be held at a later date.

“We are well prepared for this, in many ways because of our Cengage program,” said Dr. Austin, noting that Cengage offers all books and materials to its students for one basic price. “We are not closed; we are just operating in a different way. We are readjusting. Yes, it’s a serious disruption, not just for the college but for everybody everywhere.”

Classes will vary with online instruction; some even including “live” interactive student/instructor discussion. In some cases where onsite instruction is a key component to completing a degree, such as nursing and drones, the college will reschedule those aspects once the pandemic is deemed over.

“Look, the safety and health of our students, faculty and staff are first and foremost,” said Dr. Austin.  “We are going to get our students everything they need, give them as much knowledge as we can. The other stuff we can fix after the fact.”

Dr. Austin, who has written books on strategic planning and leadership, has been involved at other colleges during times of crisis, such as the aftermath of 9/11. He has also helped fellow presidents throughout the nation in dealing with campus issues while serving on national education boards and frequently has presented at national conferences on crisis management.

At WCC, college trustee Dr. Frank Gilly, a Johns Hopkins University graduate with years of medical experience in Warren County, and Dr. Phil Linfante, Trustee Board Chair with over 30 years of college executive experience, have offered important support input. 

“You prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Dr. Austin said. “The scale of this pandemic is unprecedented and we need to do what we can to help not just our students but the local community of which we are part of. We may have supplies and resources at our college that can be of use in the Greater Community now. Whatever we can do to help we’ll do.”