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KVCC professor asks "Where have all the faculty gone?"

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Arcadia Campus - file photo by WMUK
WMUK

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Professor Keith Kroll says he wanted to write on the proliferation of online classes at community colleges across the country. 

Kroll is an English instructor at KVCC, he wrote an essay about online classes forInside Higher Education. He told WMUK's Gordon Evans that he realized that many faculty members are rarely on campus any more because they teach so many classes on line. Kroll says he will never teach an online class because he wants to get to know his students "face to face."

EDONLINE-KROLL20-web.mp3
On-air version of interview with Keith Kroll

In his essay and the interview, Kroll acknowledges there is a growing demand for online classes. But he says research shows that online classes don't work well for students who need basic skills or developmental education. Kroll says that fits the profile of many community college students. 

Kroll says he would like to see community colleges try to keep students and faculty on campus. But when asked if he would suggest banning online classes, Kroll says "probably not," saying that some hybrids of classroom and online learning are good. He says online classes are here to say. 

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.