McALLEN - March 2020 was a whirlwind month for educators around the country, as schools suddenly shut down in the midst of the pandemic and had to transition to online learning almost instantly. “Fortunately, South Texas College had put a number of developments in place just prior to Covid that enabled us to quickly shift to being fully online,” notes Rachel Sale, PhD, director of distance learning. Dr. Sale had the unenviable distinction of arriving on campus just a month before the chaos. One already-in-place improvement that proved to be invaluable: the instant messenger program Pronto, within the Blackboard learning management system,