Highlights of March 2020
Throughout a remarkable and unprecedented year, CCBC continued to provide instructional, training and enrichment opportunities on campus and in virtual environments.College community acts in response to COVID-19
In early March – before the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Maryland – CCBC acted on national and local concerns about a possible epidemic, pandemic or local outbreak of the coronavirus. The college updated its Pandemic-Epidemic Plan, in place but unused since the prior threats of bird flu and swine flu outbreaks in the mid-2000s.The reality and reach of the global pandemic soon became apparent. CCBC swiftly implemented measures to protect the health and safety of the college community. The college closed all campus locations and initiated a college-wide shutdown beginning March 16. In the weeks that followed, CCBC transitioned to a fully remote learning environment, trained all faculty for online or alternative instruction, developed processes for offering students support services remotely, and implemented new telework procedures to keep all employees productive and employed.
What followed for the remainder of FY 2020 was – and continues to be – an extensive and demanding period of planning, evaluation, implementation and outreach to ensure the delivery of academic and support services for the entire CCBC community.
Continuing Education courses offered via ZOOM
In response to the challenges of 2020, CCBC Continuing Education provided life enrichment and workforce training classes through real-time teaching on the Zoom platform. More than 1800 class sections were impacted by COVID-19 closures beginning in early spring; roughly 500 were able to move online quickly. The rapid transfer of many Senior Adventures in Learning classes to Zoom provided seamless learning opportunities to this highly vulnerable population, with nearly half of all senior sections made virtual over the course of the semester.
With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, both public and private schools turned to virtual learning. CCBC responded to this need with CCBCKids@Home, meeting the needs of our youngest learners with Zoom classes in academics, fitness, art and homeschool subjects. Kids@CCBC continues to offer enrichment and personal development classes for youth 7–17 years of age.
Business Plan Competition awards $62,500 in prizes
CCBC's Center for Business Innovation’s Business Plan Competition awarded $62,500 collectively to young entrepreneurs seeking start-up capital for their fledgling business. In its seventh straight year, this is the largest pool of prize winnings available, thanks to a more than $1 million grant from the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation. In addition to start-up capital to support entrepreneurs, the grant provides instructional support to develop new courses and workshops to strengthen the business acumen for those interested in starting a new business.
This year’s first-place award of $20,000 went to Baltimore City residents Nichelle Roane and Todd Sheridan, owners of TreeHouse Juicery, an online juice company that produces and delivers cold-pressed juices to residential and commercial customers.
