Was De Anza’s Success Stories page appropriate? Yes, to an extent, but also no.

De Anza College has recently put up an ‘Online Spring Success Stories’ page on its website, noting the many accomplishments the school has made.

As much as we look forward to feel good news these days, it is highly questionable that the Success Stories page is doing so appropriately, given the school’s controversial late quarantine shutdown.

According to De Anza’s twitter account, they moved most face-to-face classes online March 16 and didn’t announce the full movement of online classes until March 19.

It is understandable to not have foreseen the grand circumstance COVID-19 became, but taking pride in moving all resources online in a success page after a rocky closing is not the most humble of decisions.

Schools all around the world were left with the task of quickly finding a solution to continue their teachings, all while teaching themselves new resources.

Feeling proud of these accomplishments is valid, but taking a deeper look into DeAnza’s page one can find some flawed reasons listed that do not belong.

The success page mentions a few points that are unnecessary such as Canvas certifications, something that should have been common practice long before COVID-19, online labs and video resources\; not at all new to our campus.

A good majority of professors have used these services to assign homework and for grading long before the outbreak.

As much as De Anza would like to pat themselves on the back for this, many other schools and companies have achieved similar outcomes, since all gatherings, meetings and classes are held in Zoom.

However, this page also includes useful information about the services we can no longer receive face-to-face through De Anza, and a few positive stories about the community that has generated praise for De Anza.

The page also features updates on counseling and psychological services, which are now available online as well as are library resources.

A major highlight is that $100,000 in emergency grants have been awarded out to De Anza students.

At the very bottom of the page, we learn that a De Anza nursing graduate, Jamie Fonseca, is applying her clinical skills at a pop-up respiratory clinic.

Our Design and Manufacturing Technologies program has partnered with a local non-profit, Maker Nexus, and have been utilizing the department’s 3D printer to develop face shields for health care workers.

These are the success stories we like to hear.

Introducing something with success in the title can be a bit misleading, especially since some of these achievements are common practices all schools are taking part in during this pandemic.

Let us replace Canvas and Zoom training mentions with more information about financial or educational resources students can depend on.

Let’s hear more about how students and programs are giving back to the community in these trying times.