HCC Chancellor Dr. Maldonado on reopening plans amid the pandemic

Flexibility is key

Houston Community College has 22 campuses and 97 thousand students but this Fall there will be none on campus when school starts August 24th.

HCC Chancellor Dr. Cesar Maldonado says HCC will follow the direction of County Judge Hidalgo and will not have in-person classes until October at the earliest. Classes will start on August 24th using what HCC calls its Flex Campus which means starting all classes remotely but adjusting as conditions change. “We can slide that scale, the number of students that go to class face to face while keeping the entire class together with remote learning at a specific time,” said Dr. Maldonado.

Flex Campus is one of four components of what HCC calls Next Learning. Here’s a breakdown of Next Learning:

  1. Flex Campus: In person learning combined with online
  2. Online Learning on Schedule: Students sign up to attend remotely at a specific time
  3. Online Anytime: Students take class on their own schedule
  4. Remote Lab Based Learning: Faculty uses 360 degree virtual cameras for teaching

Dr. Maldonado says 28 million dollars has been received from government funding and that HCC will keep in sync with local school districts through this pandemic. See more of his interview on Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall Sunday at 9:30 a.m. View an additional 10 minutes of Khambrel’s conversation with HCC Chancellor Dr. Maldonado here.

COVID long term impacts for low income women and children

Dr. Quianta Moore is a Fellow in Child Health Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Her research shows low income women and children are at high risk for long term impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic for several reasons.

  1. Women with Children are one of the most vulnerable populations impacted by the pandemic.
  2. No congressional legislation has provided adequate support for low-income mothers.
  3. Lack of support means negative financial and psychological consequences for low-income mothers and their children

Dr. Moore discusses the long term ramifications and more on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall

U.S. Immigration laws have changed while eyes were on pandemic

President Trump has issued executive orders on immigration to do what could not be done in Congress. Charles Foster says it’s an attack on the legal immigration system of this country. “The Trump Administration has essentially shut down the U.S. in terms of legal immigration,” he said. Why does it matter? Isn’t that what he said he would do if elected? We discuss.

Houston Newsmakers airs this Sunday morning at 9:30am

More Information:

Cesar Maldonado, Ph.D., Chancellor, Houston Community College

Dr. Quianta Moore, M.D., Fellow in Child Health Policy, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University

Charles Foster, Partner, Foster U.S. & Global Immigration Services