Barton Community College started this week with no known active COVID-19 cases among students or employees on campus, Vice President of Administration Mark Dean said.
“But as you are aware, that can change quickly.”
Barton’s Cougar Driven team was created in March of 2020 in response to the pandemic.
“When the team was started, we met every day, sometimes multiple times per day, including weekends and holidays,” Dean said. “It was a difficult time for everyone as the COVID climate and requirements/mandates seemed to change hourly.”
As time moved on, the frequency of team meetings shifted to twice a week, then once a week.
“And now we are down to once every two weeks,” Dean said. They continue to monitor the number of student and employee cases on campus as they follow local and regional trends and deal with any issues that surface.
During Tuesday’s BCC Board of Trustees meeting, chairman Mike Johnson commented on the welcome news.
“I know your team has spent hundreds of hours – maybe thousands of hours at this point,” Johnson said.
Along with Dean, members of the pandemic response team were:
• Kurt Teal – Academic Dean -Fort Riley/Leavenworth/Grandview Plaza
• Jennifer Bauer – Campus Nurse
• Jonathan Dietz – Housing Coordinator
• Brian Howe – Academic Dean
• Angie Maddy – VP of Student Services
• Myrna Perkins – Director of Financial Aid
• Trevor Rolfs – Athletic Director
• Kathy Kottas – Academic Dean
• Elaine Simmons – VP of Instruction
“The team attempted to make decisions and lead our institution through the pandemic as well as we possibly could,” Dean said. “This included shifting how instruction was delivered, dealing with stranded students, employee issues, Federal/State/County mandates, etc. We discussed everything from COVID testing, signage, preventative measures, PPE, distancing, educational deliveries, quarantines, isolations, housing, facilities, disinfection requirements, shielding of employee stations, travel restrictions, athletics, student groups, student performances (theater, music, etc.), vaccinations, communications, etc.”
With the cooperation of the Barton County Health Department and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Barton held multiple vaccination clinics on campus.
“We are proud to say that at no time during the pandemic did we stop delivering education to our students,” Dean said.
“We are always prepared to shift if circumstances change, but hope that will not happen,” he said. “I hope that we will continue to see positive declines in COVID cases and eventually we will be able to dissolve the team.”
Mask restrictions began to ease after COVID-19 vaccines became available. There are still employees and students who choose to wear masks, and Dean doesn’t expect that will change in the near future.
“Our campus nurse Jennifer Bauer continues to test individuals with symptoms and provides direction to students and employees that either test positive or have come into contact with someone that has tested positive,” he said.