We have done it! Working with my deans, department chairs, and facilities team, we have mapped our classroom capacities for COVID-19 and built a fall schedule. Room capacities were startling, with lecture halls that once fit 75-125 now only fitting 16-25. Fixed seating scenarios were much worse than rooms with moveable seats, so the very few large lectures that we offered will have to be online. Working with faculty preferences and concerns, paired with a few guidelines around creating on-campus experiences for our First-Year students and our upper level major courses, we ended up with a mix of online (60-62%), hybrid, and on-ground classes (38-40%). Absolutely no one is happy.
Of course, no one is happy. My residential students (about 30%) want more on-campus courses. So do some of my commuters, who do not like the online learning experience. Other students (a mix of traditional-aged and returning adults) do not want to come to campus at all. They are juggling work, children, helping with siblings, or serving in essential personnel roles (nursing homes, hospitals, etc.). For them the best option is all online, but not all of them will achieve that. Some students and faculty and staff have health conditions that suggest they should stay away. Others have learning needs that favor face-to-face experiences. Faculty are trying to figure out how to teach in a mask and/or spending the summer reimagining their courses for our very non-intuitive learning management system. For part-time faculty it is even worse, with decisions about on-campus or online, complicated by the reality of reduced enrollments and likely course cancellations. Oh boy.
And then there is the drip, drip, drip of health and safety concerns. As we watch surges in recently reopened southern and southwestern states, we wonder if we should come back at all. After all, even here in Connecticut where the prevailing behavior has been reasonable caution (most of us are wearing our masks and sitting far apart), we know very well that young people will take risks. That is a simple truth.
As the fall schedule began to solidify last week, I started to get the questions and complaints from students. I anticipate my inbox will be full of these missives about the balance of online and on-ground experiences until we start the semester. Then they will be followed up with complaints about how each modality is working. The list will be:
- The professor doesn’t know how to use Blackboard.
- I can’t hear my professor through the face mask.
- I can’t figure out which day to be on campus and which day is online (hybrid/hi-flex).
- I thought I wanted the synchronous (live online class), but now I wish it was asynchronous.
- And so on.
I am also receiving questions and concerns from faculty and staff. These questions revolve around enforcement of mask wearing (we will all enforce this practice together), cleaning practices (same as always, with supplies to wipe down desks and teaching stations in every room, and hand sanitizer everywhere), ventilation (adequate with masks on), and bathrooms (same as always, just wear your mask and wash your hands). For faculty and staff who do counter/reception service (secretaries, librarians, registrars, etc.), we are adding plastic barriers for extra safety, but most things will be by appointment anyway. These questions will continue through the start of the fall only to be followed up with:
- I thought I could teach for three hours in a mask, but I cannot.
- I can’t hear my students through their masks.
- I can’t read my students through their masks.
- I thought I wanted to teach online synchronous, but I wish I had decided on hybrid.
- And as always, I hate Blackboard Learn.
Nope. No one is happy.
I have seen all the jabs at administration during this pandemic. We have been accused of making decisions too quickly (driven by monetary concerns) and too slowly (families/students want to know what to expect). We have been accused of offering platitudes and vague statements that obscure realities. We probably have done this as we navigate the balance between decision-making and problem-solving. We are being asked to lead our campuses forward with the same information that everyone else has, while being flogged for each decision. Ok, I have a sense of humor. But, you know, it is not all that funny. We are tasked with making sure we still have universities in the fall, and it is not an easy task.
All I can say is this, I have tried my very best to deal with the realities as they are known today. For faculty, that means working with their proposals for modalities, asking for minor modifications to meet a few face-to-face interaction goals, and then letting it be. For students, that means making sure that most have a blend of learning options in their schedules. They will not have everything they prefer, but they will have some options. For staff, this means working to determine the balance of on-campus and remote work and putting in protections for those in reception areas. For everyone, this means vigilance and compromise.
All decisions have been informed by the very best guidance from the CDC so far: wear masks, wash hands, stay six feet apart. That is really all there is to do, unless we all stay home. Students across the country rejected the notion of just staying home, so we are doing our best to “re-populate” our campuses. When you blend commuter with residential students, like we do, we must assume potential exposure at all times. So, we are erring on the side of caution with our protective measures. The masks, social distancing, and reduced number of classroom experiences appear to be an effective strategy and should go a long way toward preventing a resurgence. We’ll see.
So, no one is happy. No one is going to have an ideal experience. Everyone is going to have to reimagine what education is like in this environment. But, is this really a new situation? Ideal experiences never really exist. Faculty must always figure out how to create the best educational experience possible with the tools and settings available. Students always have to adjust to experiences they did not expect or have not experienced before. So, you know, we could decide this is adventure and, well, get happy.
Missy,
I think you are doing a wonderful job in these trying times. Even thought I had only previously taught a course on line in a summer session using only mathematics software and email, it worked. Learning Blackboard, Kaltura, and Webex last semester took many hours, but now I am more technologically literate. Students helped me with Webex when we started. They taught me. There were problems with uploading assignments and learning how to grade and comment using Blackboard. There were problems with students’ access to technology. Some students did not attend the teleconferences or view the Kaltura videos and some just stopped attending. Your flexibility with the pass/fail option and late deadline for the decision about grading worked. Most of the my students who stayed with the course actually wanted a grade in MAT 110 or MAT 118.
My highest praises go to the I/T people who helped me a few times when I called. Aura Lippincott (sp?) became my personal tutor. I took two sessions of training during spring break and one the week after last semester resumed. It did take me three training sessions to get a gestalt on what it would take to run the classes on line. Then Aura filled in the gaps as things progressed. WSCU’s training, on extremely short notice, was wonderfully constructed. Stavros Christofi, Math Dept Chair, was constantly communicating with math teachers and me individually. He deserves praises too.
I am writing this not so short note because I want you to know how supportive you and others at Western have been during this pandemic. Through the years we have survived constant moving due to construction, the local virus and the water main break which occurred simultaneously, the backup on Route 84 that made many parents late for or miss graduation on the West Side, the constant funding and enrollment needs. . . With each crisis we have learned and become stronger and more experienced.
I just wanted to give you the positive feedback you deserve before the fall problems you enumerate hit. The bottom line is that despite the many problems, many students will have better lives because of all the thoughtful effort and kindness you bring to your decision making. It is worth the struggle. Get at least some sleep while you can.
Bob H.
Mathematics Department Adjunct (since 1976)
Thank you, Bob. I appreciate the positive feedback, and your sense of community in all of this. These unprecedented times ask for flexibility and you clearly know how to adapt. Be well.