MCC, MSU-Meridian welcome students back to campus

Published 2:45 pm Monday, August 17, 2020

Meridian Community College and Mississippi State University-Meridian students saw smaller class sizes and other measures designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus when they returned to campus Monday.

College campuses were closed and classes moved online in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Students in MCC’s workforce development program started in-person classes on Monday, and university transfer and general education students can use a hybrid format, meeting professors online on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

Students and staff at the school are required to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. 

“I’m excited to be back,” said Tanya Shirley, a student in the health information technology program.

MCC instructor Brian Warren agreed. 

“It feels great to be back,” said Warren, the coordinator of the precision machining program. “We’ve been without students for a while at full-time capacity, so it’s nice to have everyone back.” 

Warren said he had to split his schedule to limit the number of students in each class. While lectures can be delivered online, the actual classroom work has to be done in person, he said. 

“We still have to meet the state’s objectives and hold the level of expectation the industry has come to expect from this program,” he said.

Josh Garrett said returning to campus made him realize how much he missed seeing people.

“It’s good to be back and socialize with your fellow students,” he said.

MSU-Meridian is also requiring that all students, staff, and visitors wear masks on campus, and classroom sizes have been reduced to half their normal capacity. 

Toby Bates, an associate professor of history, was glad to be back on campus, but noted some adjustments for students taking his classes online. 

“I’ve had to adjust what I bring to the classroom,” he said. “I generally bring many historical artifacts to the classroom, for the students to hold.”

Tyler Chase was also adjusting to wearing a mask in class.

But, he said, it’s an important time worth remembering. 

“I’m a history major,” he said. “I think this is going to go down in history as something we  we are going to tell future generations about.”