AM 600 WMT interviews President Brand

President Jonathan Brand was interviewed Tuesday, May 5, on the AM 600 WMT Morning Show about the block plan during the pandemic.

In order to prevent disruptions for students, Cornell College has approved a more flexible academic calendar that moves from eight to 10 blocks beginning in 2020-2021.

The 10-block plan means that if students need to delay the start of their academic year due to the pandemic, they will still have many options to graduate in four years.  In addition, students can choose to take all 10 blocks and accelerate progress toward a three-year degree.

“What we know from parents and current and deposited students coming to Cornell in the fall, what they want more than anything else in the world is flexibility because they don’t know which way COVID-19 will go,” President Brand told WMT. “They want certainty. Everyone wants to make sure their students graduate in four years, that certainty that they will be able to move on to the next chapter in their lives. It turns out that our block system, which I like to say is pretty incredible in times of health and prosperity, it turns out it is pretty exceptional also during a crisis because it allows us to do things with our daily schedule (and frankly in our weekly and monthly calendar) in a way that no other model, as far as I can tell, can accomplish.”

Institutions across the country are looking to Cornell College as a leader during the COVID-19 pandemic because of its block plan. Several colleges across the country have contacted Cornell College with questions about the One Course At A Time schedule as they cope with the disruptions of the pandemic.