An Interview With Suzanne Johnson on Coronavirus

Suzanne Johnson, president of Green River College, responds to coronavirus concerns in The Current‘s first video interview.

Johnson has been working tirelessly with the college’s faculty and staff since the first week of March in order to ensure students received a quality end to winter quarter and a proper beginning to start off the spring.

Since Gov. Inslee mandated social isolation is March, Green River College has miraculously shifted to a strictly online format, leaving some students and teachers struggling to adjust to this new form of learning. Thankfully, Johnson and Green River College’s staff have helped each other learn the best ways to teach online, in turn supporting student’s education during this state-wide quarantine.

The choice to give students an extra week of spring break was not only an opportunity to help students adjust to this massive shift. It also gave teachers a chance to take part in a week-long course on how to use canvas and teach online.

According to Johnson, the enrollment for spring quarter has gone down about 7.5 percent, which was most likely due to the financial stress caused by the virus and the change in the education platform. Johnson would like to remind students that by emailing studentsuccess@greenriver.edu, they could possibly receive the funding necessary to help them get back to school if they choose.

The funding from the federal CARES Act has come through to the college and can be used to help these students in need with food, transportation, books, tuition, and more. Green River has also successfully given a laptop to every student who needed one and has ordered about 100 laptops which will hopefully be delivered within the next couple of weeks.

The college is also putting a wifi hotspot in the trades parking lot and inviting students without a strong internet connection to come by and stay in their car while using this connection to get their work completed. This project is nearly complete, but the college is still working with the few members of security who still work on campus to ensure the safety of students as they use the hotspot.

Johnson was also happy to share that the staff member who tested positive for coronavirus has made a full recovery and did not infect any of those they interacted with as far as she knows. With all the tragedies occurring as of late due to this crisis, it is good to know that Green River’s administration is doing the best it can to ensure student’s safety and success.

Stay strong, Gators.