Student safety top priority this fall at TSTC

(ROSENBERG, Texas) – Texas State Technical College in Fort Bend County has been diligently preparing for the fall semester.

The coronavirus has brought about many challenges, including the way students are receiving curriculum. Even with the necessary changes, TSTC is ready to safely continue its hands-on technical education.

“All departments were tasked with devising innovative ways to adhere to social distancing requirements while maintaining critical instruction,” said Associate Provost Bryan Bowling.

Many of the on-campus labs previously required students to share workstations and form groups to complete projects. Space to conduct mandatory labs is often at a premium, and in many cases social distancing requirements can exacerbate the issue.

“While some programs mitigated COVID-19 restrictions with additional sections and creative scheduling, we approached this with an all-options-are-on-the-table mentality,” Bowling said.

While the entire campus in Fort Bend County has been preparing to safely welcome students back later this month, Robotics Technology has been particularly creative.

“There are barriers between each station to maintain social distancing requirements,” Bowling said. “In short, with these barriers in place, all students in the classroom have near-unfettered access to the computer workstations and controlled access to the robots.”

Robotics Technology instructor Charles Sparks said that students had no problem with the safety protocols.

“All barriers took less than a day to put up,” he said. “Students adjusted immediately, and we have already been using them for the entire summer semester.”

Bowling said that many nicknames for the barriers emerged as they were coming to fruition, and he even took a liking to one of them.

“Cootie Barrier 5,000 is my personal favorite.”

TSTC’s COVID-19 guidelines dictate that all students and employees on campus wear masks and social distance at all times. These guidelines were originally implemented in March, but have been reinforced for the Fall 2020 semester.

Registration for the fall semester is currently underway. To apply to TSTC, visit https://www.tstc.edu/admissions.