Humanities Adjuncts and Distance Learning Skills: Responding to COVID-19 at MassBay Community College

FAIN: AH-275484-20

Massachusetts Bay Community College (Wellesley, MA 02481-5307)
Nina Keery (Project Director: May 2020 to April 2025)

The retention of 40 adjunct positions through training for online humanities instruction.

Massachusetts Bay Community College (MassBay) fosters educational excellence and student success, prepares students for local and global citizenship, anticipates and responds to the needs of surrounding communities, and contributes to evolving regional economic development. MassBay serves impoverished students who yearn for economic opportunity to lift them to financial security. Due to COVID-19 the College is in an emergency situation and needs to quickly move to a fully online model. The jobs of 40 adjunct faculty members in the humanities are at risk, as these adjuncts have never been trained in online teaching. Further, MassBay does not currently have the capacity to do so. Training adjuncts with NEH emergency COVID-19 funds will ensure that they keep their jobs and that MassBay students who are affected by COVID-19 can successfully enroll in General Education requirements, therefore facilitating their completion of coursework at MassBay and/or transfer to a four-year institution.