AACC has added 32 five-week classes to the end of the spring semester in an effort to reach students who may have lost their jobs as businesses closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The classes, which will begin April 20, are a “response to community needs, as well as opportunities to engage the students that may be in transition [due to] COVID,” according to Dr. Alycia Marshall, associate vice president for learning and academic affairs.

Marshall called the campus-wide effort to transition all classes to online in response to the pandemic “Herculean.”

“Faculty and staff really have done a Herculean effort to lift up all-remote instruction in a short period of time,” Marshall said. “I’ve been here over 20 years and I would say we really come together; we make things happen.”

The college closed its campuses and extended spring break as it ramped up for the semester to continue completely online.

Stephanie Goldenberg, interim academic chair of the Entrepreneurial Studies Institute, will teach a five-week course on e-marketing.

“We were trying to find classes that would appeal to students in the community that would be helpful during this time,” Goldenberg said.

Goldenberg said she hasn’t taught the course in a five-week format before, but she has offered it as a six-week class.

“I have to shave a week off, [but] I don’t remove the content,” Goldenberg said. “It really is condensing the content into five weeks.”

Will Kuethe, a fifth-year music student, said five-week classes can be useful for those who have taken online courses in the past.

“If a similar situation is present during the fall semester of 2020 and there are five-week courses, I may decide to take some,” Kuethe said.

Madison Likens, a third-year psychology student, disagreed.

“I’m not sure why they decided to add five-week courses, let alone so many,” Likens said. “Why would anyone want to tack on a five-week course, which is much shorter than normal, to an already hectic schedule of online courses?”

Students can find a list of the upcoming courses here.