NANTICOKE – A double-whammy computer problem at a bad time of the year left online students at Luzerne County Community College scrambling to resubmit work and retake final exams earlier this month.

The Times Leader received multiple complaints about the problem. Students who asked not to publish their names talked of difficulty connecting via email to instructors, not knowing exactly what was going on, and being forced to retake tests after they thought the course had ended and some assumed they could take a short vacation.

LCCC Spokeswoman Lisa Nelson confirmed that “the College’s Blackboard Learn course management system malfunctioned due to software corruption” on June 30. The system was repaired by Aug. 7, but three days worth of backed-up files could not be restored.

“Unfortunately, some students did lose some work which was previously completed due to corrupted back-up files,” Nelson wrote in an email. “Students were given an extra week to complete any lost work. The malfunction affected 595 students,” Nelson said.

Told of students saying they did not find out about the problem because they had left for vacation, Nelson noted that dean of business and technologies Gary Mrozinski sent several communications to students.

She said he emailed each individual section of classes for which students were using the Blackboard Learn system and also e-mailed students when the system was back online offering to assist them in any way.

One student said she knew a classmate who had received an “incomplete” on a course because he didn’t learn about the glitch in time. Nelson said she had no way of confirming that without the student’s name, but added that LCCC would work to rectify such a problem if it occurred.

Asked what steps were taken to avoid a recurrence, Nelson said that “due to the software corruption and corrupted back-up files, the College had to obtain updated hardware and updated back-up software.”

In her email, Nelson quoted Mrozinski: “The most important issue is that our students are served. We sincerely apologize to the students who were affected.”

About the Author

Mark Guydish covers education for the Times Leader. Reach him at (570) 970-7161 or mguydish@timesleader.com.

A West Hazleton native, I worked as a service technician repairing electronic mailing and shipping systems, a bike shop owner and an Emergency Medical Technician (among other jobs) before landing a reporter job at the Times Leader Hazleton Bureau in 1995. I started by covering primarily politics in Hazleton City and outlying municipalities, eventually became "social issues" team leader in the Wilkes-Barre office with the accent on education, and headed the Hazleton Bureau for a spell before returning to full-time reporting, my preferred position. I'm an avid cyclist and rode across the country in 1990, a trip of more than 5,000 miles from New Jersey to Seattle and down the coast to San Francisco. Years in the Boy Scouts made me a life long backpacker and camper, and I've yet to find a better way to enjoy the quiet lure of winter snow than cross country skiing.

Mark also writes a regular blog for timesleader.com.

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