Abstract:

The Real World Impact
In response to the very difficult conditions stemming from unprecedented floods brought to the Houston-Huntsville, Texas area by Hurricane Harvey in late August 2017, A Texas University prepared 181 online sections of a shortened semester schedule. The 7 1/2-week or “7B”class sections began on Wednesday, October 18, 2017. The university’s intention, in offering these additional sections, was to provide students who may have had to delay or drop classes due to the storm with a practical alternative that allowed them to keep their education plans on track. Over 86% of students successfully completed their 7B semester due to the joint efforts of instructional designers in the distance education department, enrollment management staff, and the faculty who volunteered at the last minute to teach in the shortened semester. In addition to addressing humanitarian concerns, the 7B semester mitigated potential financial losses for a Texas University. In fact, the 1,085 enrollments generated over $1.5 million in revenue. A map displays the actual 7B student locations in relation to substantially damaged areas as reported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA. Also of note is that 10 percent of those students enrolled in the 7B term were not within close proximity to substantially damaged or flooded areas. This indicates a broadly-based demand from students for the 7B semester option. The successful response to the challenges of Hurricane Harvey suggests other institutions in the Texas costal area could remain operational by sharing technolofy platforms, learning management systems, and core curriculum courses online. This shared services approach may prove equally valuable in meeting students’ needs, mitigating losses, maintaining enrollments and revenue.

Keywords:

Crisis, Disaster, Hurricane, Flooding, Online, Education, Students, Faculty, Staff.