Alumnus Magazine | Summer 2020

Campus NEWS
BRIDGING
THE DISTANCE
Pandemic crisis highlights Bulldog spirit,
advances in distance education
By Susan Lassetter
At the beginning of March, just over 2,000
students participated in online classes at
Mississippi State University. By month’s end, that
number had swollen to more than 20,000 as MSU
found itself in an unprecedented situation due to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like institutions of higher learning across the
country, Mississippi State had just over a week
to make all of its face-to-face courses available
through online delivery. But unlike some other
institutions, Mississippi State had the resources
and expertise necessary to make this drastic
change as seamless as possible.
“There was such a
can-do attitude
expressed
on a number
of fronts very
quickly. Our Center
for Distance Education and
the university’s Information
Technology Services raised
their hands immediately to
say ‘let us help.’”
~David Shaw
2 SUMMER 2020
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