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Deep Dive
Uncertain when campuses can open, colleges make their fall plans flexible
By splitting up courses and preparing for online classes, some schools
hope to make the term easier to adapt as the public health situation
changes.
Alia Wong
May 18, 2020
Residential colleges are scrambling to get and provide clarity as to
how the COVID-19 pandemic might alter their educational offerings. This
guesswork involves questions such as whether campuses will even be
allowed to reopen in the fall — and if so, what sorts of changes ought
to be implemented to ensure they can operate regardless of how the
virus pans out.
None can say for sure whether in-person learning will resume in the
fall. For one, the novel coronavirus is far more unpredictable than,
say, the flu. Although the body of research on COVID-19 is growing, it
remains slippery; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is
regularly tweaking its advisories amid the steady trickle of new
findings. The virus's uneven trajectory across the U.S. further
complicates matters. Come fall, the best practices — and stipulations —
in one state or locale might look vastly different from those in
another. Plus, residential colleges may face unique restrictions given
how many people they house in confined spaces.
"There's a great deal of speculation about everything," said Terry
Hartle, the American Council on Education's senior vice president of
government and public affairs. "When you're in the middle of a
hurricane, it's hard to see what things are going to look like" after
it passes.
Despite the uncertainty, most residential colleges say they intend to
reopen their campuses in a few months. They face immense pressure to
assure their constituents that some semblance of normalcy will resume
even as they extend deposit deadlines, forfeit auxiliary revenue and
brace for potential tuition refunds, among other demands.
In an effort to set expectations, college leaders are developing
open-ended contingency plans, convening task forces focused on areas
ranging from building security to personal protective equipment. As a
Plan B, many are adapting at least a portion of students' coursework —
and elements of campus life, such as clubs and events — to remote
platforms. Others are restructuring the academic term. Some are
experimenting with a combination of these strategies.
"Every institution I talk to is planning for multiple scenarios while hoping for the best," Hartle said.
A wide range of strategies
All that planning was largely speculative — until last Tuesday, when
California State University's chancellor announced the 23-campus system
will keep most classes online in the fall. McGill University, in
Canada, made a similar announcement last week.
Many schools and systems have asked faculty to prepare for the
possibility of teaching online this fall. Still others, including
Indiana's Purdue University, are confident campus will reopen, with
some modifications for safety.
Some schools are adjusting the parameters of their fall term or
recalibrating their pedagogy to accommodate a variety of scenarios.
Michigan Technological University has developed what it calls a "flex"
plan that President Richard Koubek said will enable students to return
to the Upper Peninsula campus "as quickly as possible in a safe
manner." While the research-centric institution plans to resume
in-person learning for the fall semester, it's prepared to provide
instruction virtually, perhaps keeping the lecture portion online while
holding labs in person.
This instructional remixing is accompanied by adjustments to the
academic calendar, which many higher ed leaders cited as one of the few
factors they can control. "If you stand back and look," said Paul
LeBlanc, the president of Southern New Hampshire University, "we can
take any one of the pieces of the system and put it under a microscope
and say, 'Does this really make sense?'" Southern New Hampshire is
offering all incoming freshmen a full-tuition scholarship for the
2020-21 year, allowing them to participate in campus life while taking
classes virtually.
Some colleges are exploring the idea of Saturday classes as a way to
help space out students in a course to comply with social distancing
requirements. Michigan Tech's faculty senate recently voted to move the
institution's calendar up by a few days. In the event the campus must
close for a portion of the semester, Koubek said, the early start will
build in time to put classes on hold for students to travel to, or
from, their dorms.
Wisconsin's Beloit College has adopted a module-based semester that
condenses courses into roughly seven-week terms, with students taking
just two classes at a time. The structure gives the private liberal
arts college flexibility to switch to or from remote learning without
disrupting their coursework. For students, the decision offers some
certainty about what to expect this fall.
Eric Boynton, Beloit's provost and dean, said officials wanted to avoid
"a nuclear option" that would limit their ability to change course. "We
decided, 'OK … What's the thing we can control, that can bring
confidence, in what is an utterly uncertain time?'"
Keeping students engaged
Much of the timetable reimagining is driven by retaining as much of the
campus experience as possible. Students at residential institutions
place a premium on what they get outside of the classroom. In some
cases, they are suing to recoup spring tuition, alleging schools are
overcharging in light of the move off campus.
Michelle Samuels-Jones, vice president for student success at higher
education consulting firm Credo, applauded institutions that have
created virtual student centers and facilitated events such as remote
lunch gatherings, Instagram concerts and Netflix parties.
Then there's the physical-space question, which amid social-distancing
concerns may require institutions to repurpose facilities such as gyms
and auditoriums into lecture halls where students can sit farther
apart. To ensure students aren't overly clustered in dorms and dining
halls, they might have to limit who can live on campus so fewer people
are sharing dorm spaces. Grab-and-go distribution points for meals may
also be required.
These strategies will only fulfill their purpose if students buy in to
the social-distancing requirements and are willing to forgo certain
aspects of the campus experience. Beloit has tapped a team of students
to develop "living principles" that will outline how the institution's
community will coexist on campus amid the pandemic.
Southern New Hampshire has similarly asked prospective recipients of
the full-tuition scholarship this fall to help the institution reinvent
its campus-based education, giving those students "a direct hand in
what their experience will be" in subsequent years, LeBlanc said. The
megauniversity, which serves refugees in five countries, has also
charged the team that works with those students to write a report
outlining what kinds of remote instruction they've found most
effective. Students who are refugees often have poor internet access,
among other technology issues. The university will weigh that feedback
in its pandemic plan to make sure all students, especially those who
are disadvantaged, can easily access classes away from campus.
Residential colleges won't be able to replicate every nuance of the
on-campus experience, but they can take steps to ensure students are
engaged, particularly those who are historically disadvantaged. "What
are the greatest needs for fill-in-the-blank population?" Samuels-Jones
asked, encouraging colleges to focus resources around those needs.
The classroom is just one component of the college experience, she
said. "The engagement — the community, the psychological sense of
belonging, the affirmation, the way 'I'm connected to and through
people' — is as critical."
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