Campus News

Student Central open for business as (un)usual

Troy Stoddard, director of the Advising and Career Center at Great Falls College, was the only person in his department on Thursday of last week.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – Troy Stoddard, the director of the Advising and Career Center at Great Falls College MSU, wants the campus community to know Student Central is open for "business as usual even if it's unusual."

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant his staff members are mostly working from home, although since last week was the first week of the second block of spring semester, one person from advising was on campus to help students settle in to the new routine.

Thursday was Stoddard's turn to be on campus, but he said the reality is that it's not any different than when he is working at home like the rest of the staff members were on Thursday as they did their part to socially distance to slow the spread of coronavirus.

This week, Student Central will be completely working remotely as advising, admissions and financial aid employees will telework to comply with the governor's stay-at-home order.

"I am proud of the work the Student Services staff has done to continue serving our students during this time," said Mary Kay Bonilla, Great Falls College's chief student affairs and human resources officer. "We know our students are resilient, and we are here to help in any way we can."

Advising

"Almost everything we do is one on one with students," Stoddard said, "so, this hasn't affected us a much as it has may have others."

He also said the advisors have access to everything they need to help assure students that they are on the right track.

"We have access to all of our files (when working from home)," he said. "We still see academic records and what the students need (to take). And we're just as available by phone or email."

However, he urges students to call when possible because it's easier to have a back and forth discussion.

He said the last couple of weeks have been busy as students are making adjustments to their schedules as a result of the changes to remote learning.

"We certainly have some students who prefer face-to-face classes," he said. "So we've been helping them drop a class that they don't want to take online and add another."

A few elected to drop out of the semester altogether.

One small silver lining Stoddard has found is the move to remote teaching began at the beginning of a block at Great Falls College. It would have been tougher on students to start classes face to face and being forced online midstream than it is for them to know what the expectations are from the outset, he said.

Great Falls College moved to two eight-week blocks for each semester in 2018 as part of the 8-Week Advantage, which was meant in part to help students deal with life events.

"And this was a really big life event that happened to everyone," he said. "This has really emphasized to me the value of the eight-week block."

Admissions

Laramie Smovir, enrollment specialist in admissions at Great Falls College, said she is scheduling meetings with prospective students through either video conferences or phone calls.
Obviously, she is not able to get out in the community for group meetings and high school visits in the ways she did in the past, but she and the recruitment team will be setting up online sessions and inviting students to learn about college-going topics.

"Things are going well. Students have the option to schedule an appointment with a member of the admissions team online at their convenience," said Shannon Marr, director of admissions at the college. "We really want to continue assisting students by phone or online. We're used to meeting students where they are, and, right now, that happens to be from a distance."

The page to make appointments can be found HERE

Students also can call the office numbers of anyone in admissions and those phones are forwarded during business hours.

Financial aid

Students will feel very little impact with the move of financial aid going off-campus.

"The folks in financial aid are available to help anyone in need via phone or email," said Leah Habel, director of financial aid. We're really not changing anything. For students who are used to calling or emailing, nothing has changed."

One thing she stressed is not a change, but she emphasized students should not send documents that include social security numbers or other sensitive information through email. Those documents should be faxed or mailed to: Financial Aid Office, 2100 16 Avenue South, Great Falls, MT 59405.

"Everything is pretty normal," Habel said.

Reach out for help:

Advising: 406-771-5100, advising@gfcmsu.edu

Admissions: 406-268-3700, admissions@gfcmsu.edu

Financial aid: Reach them by phone at 406-771-4334, fax at 406-771-4410 or finaid@gfcmsu.edu

Caption:
Troy Stoddard, director of the Advising and Career Center at Great Falls College, was the only person in his department on Thursday of last week. This week, all of Student Central, including advising, financial aid and admissions, will be off campus to comply with the governor's stay-at-home order, but Stoddard emphasized Student Central is just as available as before. They are just a phone call away.

Contact:

Scott Thompson | Director of communications and marketing
Scott.thompson@gfcmsu.edu
O: 406-771-4314
C: 406-750-0982